Changing Stripes
by polaryen
Summary: Being thrown into a world that was non-existent would throw anybody off. What was I supposed to do when it was the world I was obsessed with? Self-Insert OC. Very soft-core slash (nothing beyond hand-holding and kissing) which starts during Fourth Year. Currently in First Year.
1. A Wild Start

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Droplets of water splashed into a puddle near to a body

Shadows.

Flickering lights. The taste of ash.

He received blurred images, for he had just awoken. His semi-conscious mind could not comprehend the information he was receiving from his senses. His fingers twitched, scraping the floor. Dirt gathered underneath his fingernails as he pushed himself upright into a kneeling position.

Attempts to look around resulted in piercing pain and dizziness. He closed his eyes hurriedly. A hand went to his eyes to rub out the dizziness he experienced. The effects were minimal. He gave himself time for his brain to fully awaken, there was no point in him trying to move around when he didn't even know where he was.

It took less than five minutes before the boy felt able and comfortable enough to move around. His legs were numb. There had been too much pressure on his legs. He stretched his legs out and rubbed them with his grimy hands so his blood could circulate. The numbness did not fade completely but it subsided enough for him to stand up without his legs feeling weak.

The boy opened his eyes, finding himself in darkness. He walked with his arms outstretched, aiming to locate the walls of the room he supposed he was stuck inside of.

He soon figured out the size of the room. The walls were within ten steps of each other on each side. The boy used his hands in an endeavour to locate an exit. His efforts were futile as he could not find anything. He stopped his frantic scouring as it didn't yield any results.

Soon running out of things to do, the boy began to panic. The realisation that he had probably been kidnapped set in. His fists clenched.

Knowing the size of the room didn't help. He didn't do well in tiny enclosed spaces such as this one. His breathing was erratic, feeling his knees give way as he collapsed onto the floor. He didn't know how to escape. There seemed to be no exit. He had investigated the entire room. The boy had questions in his juvenile mind. Questions that would surprise even those who have matured.

He wondered who would ever throw him into a room with no exits. Were his kidnappers hoping for him to die of hunger? He doubted it. Why do that when they could kill him quickly? It didn't make sense to the boy. He could only continue to question the situation he found himself in to stave off the worry and panic he was sure would devour his thought processes.

He began to cry.

He didn't have any other coping mechanisms for situations such as this. Why would he? A young child such as him should never be subjected to such horrors. But alas, here he is, stuck in a dark room with no exits.

The boy did not bother retrieving himself off the floor. He didn't think it would be of any use. He decided it would be better for him to conserve as much energy as he could. He wasn't certain if he would ever receive any kind of food or water. His parched throat didn't allow him to form noises louder than groans and grunts. The boy did not force the issue on his dry throat.

Hours must have gone by after the boy had adjusted himself into a laying position. His once closed eyes opened to stare at the dark ceiling. He imagined the ceiling a sky, and his mind took over his imagination. He visualised thousands of stars littering the sky, lighting up his day. With all the darkness he had been subjected to, it was bound to brighten up his day slightly.

He smiled.

As he closed his eyes once more, his breathing evened out, until he was breathing no longer. The slow rhythmic heartbeats stopped.

He had fallen asleep.

A deep sleep he would never wake from.

-Line Break-

Nick's eyes opened suddenly, sitting upright as he gasped at the dream he just had. It was a recurring dream that came and disrupted his sleep every single night. Every night the dream seemed to go a little bit further. Nick's messy hair covered his eyes as he placed a hand on his chest, attempting to steady his breathing. _'I_ _'m not sure if that is the last dream of the series. It certainly seems like it is the end.'_

Once he judged his breathing regular, he pulled the blanket away from his body. He swivelled his body so that his legs were hanging over the bed. He placed his feet on the ground. Having both his feet on the ground allowed him to be sure he was no longer stuck in a dream.

Nick's hand went on a search for his spectacles which he left on the bedside drawer.

He massaged his temples before putting on his glasses. The difference in the clarity of his vision with and without his glasses was amazing. A low hum uttered from his throat. _'I'm still amazed how quick my vision has deteriorated. I'm certain I'll go blind at a younger age than even mum.'_ His attention was diverted by the beeping alarm which signified the start of his day. 'I guess I had a good sleep. At least I wasn't woken up in the middle of the night. It would have been a nightmare falling asleep afterwards. My brain is just too active for my liking, though I can't complain as it gives me so many good ideas for fanfictions.'

A few static stretches to rid himself of the kinks in his body. "Ah, just perfect." He moved from the bedroom and into the toilet. Nick had the need to relieve himself. _'Nothing like a good ol' piss in the morning to relax my nerves eh?'_ He continued to hum as the contents of his bladder was released. Shaking the body part off, he pulled his pants back up before washing his hands and face.

Nick had a very specific daily routine and he would not change it even if the world was ending. Rheum always dried on his face, irritating as it is, he made an excuse for him washing his face to wake himself up every day. _'I wonder what new Harry Potter fanfics there are today. I hope they aren't the low-quality ones.'_ Nick shuddered at the thought. 'I can't believe so many of these fanfic writers don't even bother checking their work. The grammar and spelling mistakes make me cringe every time.'

He shook his head in exasperation. _'I mean come on, there are programs online which at least help you with grammar. Something like Grammarly would do wonders for these fanfictions. I do have to admit my own standards for writing is absolutely low considering I read all these terrible fanfics in the first place.'_

He squealed in delight as he saw multiple notifications on his phone, announcing the updates of several of his favourite fanfictions. _'I just can't stop myself from indulging. There are obviously jewels in the fanfiction community, it takes effort to find them though. But, it makes me think. There could be so many more of these so-called jewels if they bothered to check their work. Even if they didn't use something like a spell-checker or grammar-checker, a beta-reader would be in their best interests.'_ Sighing at the lost cause, he scrolled through his emails.

 _'Hm, there's a Harry Potter convention today?'_ Nick sunk into deep thought. _'My schedule can be cleared for the convention. I'm not going to miss something as big as a convention. I can miss a day of writing. It's not like I can't increase my writing speed for the next two days.'_ Nick nodded his head. "Yes! A convention I'm not going to miss. I wonder how much money I should bring? Wait... I should check what time the convention starts. I don't want to be going too early." He skimmed the email again, searching for the convention's details. "It starts at 12 P.m., I have plenty of time. It's only 6 A.m. Right, then I still have enough time to write. I'll finish my daily quota by the time it is 10 A.m." Nick cackled as he cracked his knuckles.

After drinking a glass of warm water, Nick had focused himself on the task of achieving his daily quota. He had forgotten the time as he lost himself in his writing.

The next time he looked at the time, it was already past 10 A.m. His eyes widened comically. "Oh my God! I'm already late. I need to shower and brush my teeth, and, and, and..." Nick trailed off as he smacked his head. "I don't think the convention will start immediately. I won't miss too much. Okay, calm down. I need to get something to eat after I shower. Should I cook something or should I just go to a local convenience store to get something to eat? What a hard decision to make. Cook a good meal or buy a snack worth less than ten pounds?" He tapped his chin in thought.

"Gah, I'll just buy a snack." Nick decided to buy the food. "I don't want to waste time. Time is scarce." Nick ran into the toilet with his clothes on, but ran back out to strip and grab a towel. "Right, can't forget the towel. Don't want to be dripping wet all over the floor." He finished his shower in record time. Nick brushed his teeth whilst washing his hair, it cut the time taken for cleaning up dramatically.

Rushing out of the toilet with a towel wrapped around his waist, Nick slammed the door to his bedroom open. He searched for appropriate clothes. He had no idea what to wear to a convention. It was the first time he had went to one. He never went to one before because he did not have the time. And now that he had the time to do so, he was going to make sure he experienced a convention properly. Nick grabbed his phone and googled for information. A few seconds later, he put his phone down in frustration.

"What do they mean when you can wear whatever you want? That doesn't help me!" He looked at his wardrobe, ranting as he did so. "I don't care anymore! I'll just wear a casual outfit. Nobody will judge me, right? I'll just say I ran out of time to get ready." Nick retrieved a pair of socks from a drawer and ran down to the living room. "Uh, what do I need. Keys, phone, wallet... yeah, that's everything." He poked his head into the kitchen to check if anything was on. "Nope, everything is off. I can leave the house with a light heart." Nick put on his socks before looking for his trainers. "Where did I put them?" He found them next to his dress shoes.

He closed the front door and locked it. Nick tested the door to make sure the door was locked properly. "Right, off we go!" Nick began his journey to a local convenience store on foot.

In his excitement to go to a convention, Nick's usual awareness for the traffic was less than stellar. He never noticed the sirens that blared in the distance.

His inattention to his surroundings led to a car crashing into him. How was he to know there was a car chase going on between a criminal and the police? Nick cursed as he watched the ground below him. "Fuck."

He was greeted with darkness when he landed on the ground.

 **-Author's Note-**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This fanfiction is written for entertainment purposes only and no money is earned from this. I do not claim any characters besides my Original Character, Corvus Tonks, as my own. They are the sole property of J.K Rowling, Marvel Comics and any others which have a claim.**


	2. Trapped

Nick was lying on the ground unconscious. His eyelid fluttered, signalling the impending awakening. His fingers dug into the ground below him, dirt gathering underneath his fingernails.

His cheek was sore after lying on the ground for an extended period of time. Nick was unsure whether he should continue laying on the ground since it was rather comfortable to him, though his cheek protested. He opened his eyes, gazing out at the darkness which greeted him. A gasp escaped Nick as he shot upright as he recalled the events he last remembered. "What in the world happened?" Nick noticed the change in his voice. "What the Hell? Why is my voice so... childish?" He inspected his body quickly, not willing to be caught off-guard by any other changes to his body. "Right. The good news is that my entire body is intact."

Nick grimaced as he noted his findings. "Bad news is that I'm in a child's body. How that is possible, I don't know, but it's happened." He fiddled with his tiny fingers as he tried to understand why he wasn't panicking. "Huh, I'm surprised I'm not reacting to the situation. I'm usually such an emotional person." No sooner had he said that than the tears came pouring. "Oh," he put a hand to his face, pulling it away when he felt the wetness. "haha. There go the tears I was expecting." Nick abandoned himself to his emotions.

"I..." The tears trailed down his face as he wept, his body wracking with sobs. He thought no more of the situation, allowing himself to fall asleep from the fatigue setting in after an hour of crying. 

-Line Break-

When Nick next woke up, he found himself scenting smoke. The smoke left a taste in his mouth that quickly had him off the floor. He had bled all of his emotions in the form of tears and sobs. His mental state was a far cry from being considered stable but he could at least think logically about the situation he found himself in. _'Something is burning. And I'm going to die from smoke inhalation. Yippee.'_ He attempted to relieve himself of the panic he was experiencing by being sarcastic. It didn't work very well.

Nick walked around the room, with his arms outstretched. _'This seems oddly familiar to me. Gee, it must have something to do with the fact that this is similar to my dreams.'_ Nick realised the stupidity of the situation. _'It seems like having the same dreams for two weeks and my apparent death leads to transmigration.'_

The room was not completely dark as his dreams had suggested. There were vague flickers of light that shone through gaps above him. _'You know, now that I'm in control of the body, it seems fairly awkward that I never escaped from this room in my dreams. I mean, how did I not notice such obvious gaps above me?'_ He wondered about the dream. _'Had the dream been from the perspective of a child? Is that why I never noticed these things? Most children don't pay attention to detail so I can't fault the kid that inhabited the body before me for not finding a way to escape.'_

Nick glanced at the gaps in the ceiling and noted that it was most likely a trap door. "I've found an exit but the problem I'm facing now is my inability to reach the said exit." Nick cursed the tiny body. "Of all the times to be a child, I have to be short enough to be unable to reach the exit. What's worse is that there's absolutely nothing here which would aid me in my escape." He continued to swear in every language he was fluent in.

"Is this going to be the real end for me? To die in less than a day after being transmigrated... I must have set a new record." Nick spoke in a depreciative tone. "I can imagine my tomb epitaph already," he said, muttering in a low tone. "Nick Banes: Death by smoke inhalation after transmigrating into a new body. Oh wait, I sincerely doubt I'd get an epitaph. They won't even be able to find me if everything is burnt down." He laughed humourlessly. He shook his head. "I refuse to die so easily. I refuse, I refuse and I refuse. Not changing my mind. I absolutely refuse to die." He clenched his fists, turned around and punched the wall. He regretted punching the wall as it hurt his knuckles very much.

He bellowed in anger, frustration and pain evident in his yell. Nothing was going right for him.

His emotional state more unstable than before caused an event he would have thought impossible. He teleported.

The sudden change in scenery left him confused but he swiftly gained his wits back. "Oh, I see." No, he didn't see. He was confused and he was doing his best trying to make sense of what had happened. "I've teleported." If it wasn't for the fact that the temperature was rising around him he would've continued to stand still. "Right, smoke and ash. Fire. Burning building." Nick reminded himself of the perilous situation.

"Okay, Let's make my way out of the burning building before it collapses on me." He took a deep breath as he ducked underneath a burning pillar of wood.

Nick was glad he had shoes on as broken pieces of glass cracked underneath his feet. Nick scanned the rooms he walked into and noticed that only a few were burning. He could hear the ticking of a clock. It reminded him of the impending doom of the building. He picked up his efforts to move through the building quickly. No time could be wasted for looking around. His cautiousness paid off when he finally made it out of the building, with several people outside pointing. He couldn't be more glad for his tiny size at that moment. He slipped out of their sight, the majority of the shocked onlookers never noticing the small figure sneaking away.

Nick eventually stopped running away from the building when he was certain nobody had followed him. He bent over panting, trying to catch his breath. _'Surprise, surprise. I've managed to wriggle my way out of a burning building that was supposed to be impossible to escape considering I was trapped underground.'_ He sighed, looking at his hands. _'I don't understand what happened. In fact, I don't understand what's going on with my life!'_ He began to rant in his mind, though Nick was certain that his facial expressions were enough to have people questioning his sanity.

After a few minutes of relieving his stress, Nick decided to contemplate his circumstances in a calm manner. _'I've transmigrated into another body. That's fine. I can deal with reliving my childhood.'_ He nodded his head as if he was not concerned about growing up again. ' _I have magical powers that allowed me to teleport in my time of need.'_ He tapped his chin in thought but stopped after he remembered how dirty his hands were. _'It sounds familiar. Where have I heard about this from?'_ His musing was cut short when a large figure walked up to him.

"What are yeh doin' here alone? This is no place fer a child like yeh. Yeh should get home." The man pointed his umbrella at Nick, walking closer to him. Nick glanced around in fright, he did not expect anybody to talk up to him. "If yeh can't get home yehself, then I can take yeh to the Leaky Cauldron." After looking around like a frightened deer, Nick's eyes widened as he stared at the massive figure.

He knew who this man was. There could be no way. It was impossible for him to be in a world that was fictional. Right? Nick was speechless and the man took his silence as an affirmative. "Righ' let's go, I'll pay for yeh lodgin' for a single nigh' an' then yeh better be off on yeh way back 'ome." The man placed his hand on Nick's shoulder and pushed him along the pathway.

Nick was still too dumbfounded to say a word. He couldn't believe his eyes. "I must be dreaming."

"Wha's that yeh said?" Nick shook his head.

"Nothing." Silence ensued between the pair until they reached a lit portion of the street.

 _'How is it possible for Hagrid to be alive? Maybe I'm just overthinking things and this is the actor who played Hagrid.'_ He tried to come up with reasons to dissuade him from the belief that the Harry Potter world was real but he was grasping at straws. The evidence mounted up and Nick could no longer deny reality.

 _'Everything adds up. My teleportation must have been apparition.'_ He recited the explanation for his accidental magic off by heart. _'Accidental magic often occurs to magical children in situations of anger, confusion and when they are scared.'_ He may not have been aware of his apparition, but he had been in similar circumstances as Harry. They both felt scared and they both wanted to be in a safe place.

Nick and Hagrid eventually made it to the Leaky Cauldron. Hagrid was paying Tom the barkeep the necessary amount of money for his stay. After paying Tom, Hagrid patted Nick on the head with his large hands whilst grinning. "I've paid enough fer yeh to stay here for a nigh' an' yeh even get a meal an' a shower ter. I'll be seeing yeh in Hogwarts when yer old enough. I'm running ou' of time." He left the Leaky Cauldron hastily. "An' do make sure yeh get back ter yeh family!" Hagrid turned round to shout at Nick who absently waved goodbye to the broad back of Hagrid.

"Yeah... thanks Hagrid." He spoke quietly, not wanting Hagrid to actually hear him. It would be suspicious if he knew Hagrid's name even though he hadn't introduced himself.

Tom ushered Nick up the stairs of the pub and showed him the room he would be staying in for the night. "Off you go to bed. Hagrid's a good man and it would do you good to remember that. He's one of the most kind-hearted souls I've met." Tom stared at a wall with a vacant expression before turning back to Nick. "There'll be food for you in the morning after you wash up. The toilet is down the hallway." He pointed to the door with a sign saying 'Toilet'. "And by the way, try to keep your hair the same colour. It would be rather distracting for the customers." Tom climbed down the stairs after giving Nick the key to the room.

Nick held a puzzled expression on his face as he entered the room. He locked the door and threw himself onto the bed provided. _'What did he mean to keep my hair the same colour?'_ A hand went up to his hair, feeling the locks. _'I can't see what my hair looks like, it's too short for me to see. I'll look for a mirror when I'm not so tired.'_ He yawned, tired from everything that happened today. He placed a hand over his mouth, grimacing at how dirty he was.

Closing his eyes, Nick fell asleep without a care in the world.


	3. Job

Nick woke up early in the morning as the sun barely begun to rise. The glint of sunlight sneaked through the gaps between the curtain and window. His sleep was peaceful. Nothing disturbed him, his fatigue destroying any chances of dreaming.

He could not be bothered to move from his comfortable position.

 _'Jeez, I smell terrible. I bet all that icky sweat contributed to the stench I'm being bombarded with currently.'_ Nick's nose picked up the stench which was coming from his body. Even the cosy bed could not convince him to return to his slumber, its promise being overwhelmed by the need to rid his body of the stench.

Nick rose from the bed, clothes sticking to his body as he stretched. The stench became unbearable when he lifted up his arms. "Phew, I really need to wash both my clothes and body." He examined the room around him as he was too tired to do so before. "There's no clock in the room." Nick wanted to know the time, he did not want to waltz into the toilet if it was filled with people. He had noted how several of the rooms in the pub were occupied when Tom spoke to me. "Can't wish for everything." He murmured underneath his breath, not wanting to cause too much noise. He was not sure how well the rooms were soundproofed and didn't dare to test it out.

Without a clock, Nick had to estimate the current time by pulling up the curtain and looking out the window. Nick's hastiness to know the time had him momentarily blinded. Though the sun was not at its peak, it was still bright enough to blind a person if they were to glance at it suddenly.

 _'Hmm, the sun is barely rising. God, I don't even know what the date is.'_ Nick smacked himself on the head when he realised he didn't even know the date. _'It'd be rather hard for me to tell the time. Sometimes I just hate living in the U.K. It could be anywhere between five A.m. and 10 A.m. depending on the season.'_ He groaned and began muttering curses.

With the time still being unknown, Nick unlocked the door and walked outside. He noticed a towel and a change of clothes in front of the door when he accidentally kicked the said items. _'I'm going to thank Tom for this. He probably must have noticed the horrid stench emanating from me last night.'_ He locked the door behind him after picking up the towel and clothes from the floor. "Time to shower." Nick started to whistle but stopped himself after the first few notes of the tune he was whistling. "Right, gotta be quiet, there might be other patrons occupying the rooms. Don't want to wake them up." He said, speaking to himself in a low tone. Nick did not want to be the one to be blamed for waking others up. He was in a wizarding bar and he dreaded the curses and charms that might be aimed at him if he offended anybody.

Following Tom's directions, Nick made his way past the toilet door. He was met with two more doors which had signs saying 'Male' and 'Female.' Nick was glad there was a separation between the two genders because he was unsure whether he would be able to control his hormones. He had never seen a naked woman besides his mother after all. He did not want to incur the wrath of a woman, especially a witch. His hand which had been straying towards the door for females was immediately pulled back at the thought. He did not want a witch labelling him as a pervert. He was sure of the consequences that were to follow if he continued his actions.

Shaking his head in embarrassment, Nick was glad there seemed to be nobody else in the tiny room. The room had cubbyholes and inside of those cubbyholes were baskets that he guessed would hold his clothes and valuables. Not that he had anything valuable. Placing the towel around his waist, Nick began to strip. Placing the dirty clothes into the basket and the clean clothes on top of them.

He pushed open the door for males and ran into the toilet without a care in the world. He had noticed the cubbyholes and baskets were all empty, and thinking there was nobody in the toilet, he allowed his self-control to disappear. _'Hey, if I want to act like a child, then I'm allowed to act like a child.'_ I'm a grown," he coughed into his hand, "mature man that is now stuck in a child's body. Nobody will question my actions as long as they aren't stupid or harmful." He argued with his conscience which protested his behaviour. Nick's heart fluttered at the childish actions, he hadn't felt so free in so long. There were no expectations for him yet, he was a child. Homeless and an orphan, but still a child. Sure his mind was of a mature man but nobody knew that.

The toilet had several cubicles that could be concealed from view through the use of curtains. Nick's relief for the privacy curtains could be seen when his jubilant smile became engraved onto his face. He placed the towel on a hook beside the cubicle before entering the cubicle without a care in the world, the curtains already blocking it from view.

He finished his shower at an incredible pace. Though Nick was hidden by the curtains, he would still not take any chances of anybody popping into the bathroom and seeing him naked. Nick was doubtful the Leaky Cauldron had patrons other than adults considering it was a pub which served alcohol. He reached for the towel and dried himself off. He made sure his hair was completely dry as he had a habit of catching a cold from not drying his hair properly. "Now," Nick wrapped the towel around his waist once again, and placed his hands on his hips, "where could the closest mirror be? There has to be a mirror in the toilet. Everybody has one in the toilet. I think."

A few glances around the room had him walking towards a sink. "I knew there was a mirror. Haha, my deductions cannot be disputed for I am the smartest detective in the world!" He sent furtive looks around the room to make sure he was still alone. "Right, let's be a little mature." He patted himself on the cheeks. "I, Nick Banes, am the most mature child you will ever see." Nick took his very first look at his new reflection in the mirror.

"What in the actual...?" He yelled, loud enough that he covered his mouth before he could finish cursing. "When Tom told me about my hair colour changing, I didn't think it would mean I was a metamorphmagus." There could be no other reasoning for his changing hair. "The only metamorphmagus I know in the Harry Potter world is Nymphadora Tonks, and the colour of her hair is dependent on her emotions, but she can control those changes right?" He asked himself hesitantly, once again shooting furtive glances around the room.

He turned to his thoughts as he did not want to voice anything else important out loud, in fear of being overheard. _'I've never heard of any other metamorphmagi, I'm certain Nymphadora Tonks is the only one. Could this mean I'm in an alternate universe of the Harry Potter world?'_ He gripped the sink tightly, staring at his reflection. The pained expression on his face conveyed his apprehension of the thought of being in an alternate universe. _'No no. Just believe that this is the same Harry Potter universe I've read in the books. No point in worrying when I don't have all the information. I don't even know the date, so I can't confirm anything.'_ He nodded, his determined face replacing his previous expression.

 _'Instead of worrying about things that don't matter to me now, I should worry about my present problems.'_ Nick knew that being transported into a child's body would hold many complications. No matter how enjoyable it was to be young again, there was always going to be problems. _'I'm homeless, have no clue as to whether my parents or family is alive and I have no money.'_ He listed his problems out.

Nick's ruminations about his problems paid off when he decided on a plan which he hoped would work out. _'If I can ask Tom for a job, then I think I have my housing and money issues solved. I'm not sure if he would even hire a child like me, but I'm sure I could convince him... with my childish charm.'_ A wan smile appeared on his face. _'I need to come up with backup plans as well. If Tom won't hire me, then I'll need to look for other sources of income. I'm not going to use my metamorphmagus abilities for the wrong reasons unless they benefit me directly.'_ Though Nick was usually a person that did not consider about doing criminal activities, he knew that he would need every advantage he had. After all, he was in a world he only knew about through movies and books. Those didn't explain much.

 _'From the amount of money Hagrid paid last night, it costs around about 3 sickles for a single night and a meal in the Leaky Cauldron. It's not too bad a price though I can't be sure I'll be paid a lot unless Tom allows me to live here free of rent.'_ He narrowed his eyes. _'I can't count on Tom's generosity. He's a man who opened a business and he won't do anything for free.'_ Nick observed the changes of his hair colour. It stayed a shade of blue but changed from a sky blue to a more indigo shade. He assumed the blue shade showed how deep in thought he was.

 _'If all is hopeless, I'll take my chances at Gringotts. A blood test would allow me to know whether I still have living relatives and if I had money in the wizarding world. My plan isn't much but it is the best plan I can think of in such a short period of time.'_ Nick was set on following his plan as it was his best bet for the time being. "Now I just need to figure out the method to control my metamorphmagus abilities." He walked out of the toilet so he could put on his clothes. He would rather be clothed when he experimented with his abilities.

The clothes Tom provided Nick were just right. Nick was certain the clothes had a charm that adjusted the size of the clothes appropriately. He could not confirm his suspicions as he didn't know enough about magic. It was strange that Nick adjusted to the new world so quickly. Nick accepted the fact he had transmigrated and was going along with everything. It was something he did on a daily basis in his previous life. He went along with whatever changes his life had because he had plenty of money to spend. His inheritance from his family and the businesses he managed allowed for a comfortable lifestyle which allowed him to spend more time on his hobby. That was all gone now that he was in a different world, but he kept the same mentality because he hoped things would work out in the end.

He wandered back towards the mirror after clothing himself. 'Metamorphmagus abilities are affected by a person's emotional state. But Nymphadora Tonks seemed to be able to control her transformations, though there were times in the books where her emotional state was reflected by her hair colour.' He tapped his chin. _'If I learn occlumency, I'd be able to control the emotional aspect of my abilities. I don't even know where to begin with learning occlumency though. I only have vague information to go by, and it isn't like I have any books to aid me.'_

He gasped, smacking his forehead when he came to a realisation. "Metamorphmagus abilities depend on a person's will. Just like spells! If I can just will myself to stop the constant colour changes, then all will be right!" He attempted to do just that, and it seemed to work out perfectly as his hair finally turned brown, no longer varying in colour. "Well, that was easy. I doubt the same can be said for transforming my body though. I really, really do not want to attempt that just yet."

After solving his issue with his hair, Nick left the toilet and picked up the wet towel and dirty clothes from the basket. "Don't know what I'm going to do with these, so I'll just ask Tom. At the same time, I can explain the situation to him and let's just hope he's understanding." As he entered the hallway, he noticed a man walking towards him. The man didn't pay any attention to Nick and bumped into him as he tried to make his way past.

"What the Merlin did I hit?" The man looked around the hallway before his eyes rested on Nick's small figure on the ground. "I'm sorry little man, didn't see you there. Are you all right? I didn't expect a child to be here in a pub." The man smiled, showing his cracked teeth. Nick shook his head and pushed himself off the ground.

"I'm fine. Just watch where you're going next time." Though Nick tried to be polite, the man still raised an eyebrow at his words.

"You've got a fine attitude right there little man. Don't lose it. Too many people lose their individuality these days." The man stared at Nick for a few more seconds before shaking his head. "Off you go little man, I can hear your stomach rumbling from over here." The man made his way to the end of the hallway and into the toilets. Nick continued to stare at the back of the man.

"What a strange man." He felt a ferocious blush appear on his face when the man's words kicked in. "My stomach is rumbling?" Nick glimpsed at his lower body, patting his stomach. "I'll fill you up soon. Don't growl on me now. Don't need anybody thinking you are an insatiable little bugger." He picked up the things he dropped before climbing down the stairs of the pub.

His light body made it very easy for him to be silent as he climbed down the stairs, though it didn't help him in going unnoticed as Tom greeted him the moment he was in view of the bar. "Good morning, you're up early. Not many children wake up at such an hour." He raised an eyebrow, questioning my early rise.

Nick shrugged nonchalantly. "I always wake up early in the morning." He walked towards one of the bar stools and sat on it. Tom nodded as if the explanation was enough for him.

"I'm glad you have that hair of yours under control. The customers I get would be too confused by the constant colour changes that your hair flies through. I'm surprised there's another metamorphmagus around though. You're the second metamorphmagus I've met in the last decade, and they are considered rare. I don't think there have been any others for the past half-century at least." Tom looked at me curiously. "You're a mystery lad. I don't know where you've come from but I suspect you are related to the Blacks." He went back to stacking the bottles of alcohol onto the shelves.

His words left Nick thinking but he filed away the thought for later. He cleared his throat to gain Tom's attention. "Mr Tom, would you have any vacancies for a helping hand? I don't have anywhere to go and I have no money." Nick's directness caught Tom off-guard.

He spun around, a bottle in his right hand and a cloth in his left. "I don't need a helping hand," Tom looked at Nick's frown before continuing to speak, "but if you are able to cook and clean the rooms upstairs, I'm sure I can hire you." Tom held a finger up to stop Nick from thanking him just yet. "This will be on a trial basis. If you aren't able to cook food that satisfies the customers or if you slack off in your cleaning, then you'll be kicked out promptly." Nick's head bobbed up and down eagerly. He had a job and he wasn't going to lose it. The conditions Tom set him were fine though he wasn't sure about the pay just yet. "I'll pay you five galleons per month. You won't have to pay the rent for the room and you'll get three meals a day free of charge, though you will have to cook your own meals."

Nick was ecstatic. He couldn't be happier. Nick had faith in his cooking skills, he had taken lessons on different types of cooking and spent thousands of hours practising the art. The room cleaning wouldn't be hard. He cleaned the house by himself all the time. "You can count on me, Mr Tom. You have no idea how much you've helped me." Tom laughed.

"There's no need to call me Mr Tom. I feel old whenever I get called that. Just call me Tom." He threw a towel over his shoulder and looked at Nick sternly. "I'll be testing your cooking skills right now. Cook two meals for breakfast, one for me, and one for you. I don't mind what you make but you will only have the ingredients in the kitchen to work with." Tom led Nick towards the back of the Leaky Cauldron. "Good luck." He left the kitchen to continue wiping his glassware.

Nick was now alone in the kitchen, and he was standing on top of a chair looking through the cabinets for ingredients he could use. Half an hour later, Nick strolled out of the kitchen with two plates of food. He placed one plate on the table where he was going to sit and he handed the other plate over to Tom who had been watching him intently. Nick ran back into the kitchen to get the cutlery so they could begin eating. Once everything was settled, Nick sat on the bar stool and dug into his meal, not scared about the taste.

Tom observed Nick's face carefully and after seeing no signs of Nick vomiting the food back out, he took a bite of the food Nick made. A satisfied hum could be heard. Nick held a smirk on his face. _'There's no way he wouldn't find the food delicious. As far as I'm concerned, most of the wizarding world uses magic to aid them in cooking. Magic makes things convenient that's for sure, but it can't do the finer things which require human hands.'_

They finished the meal in a comfortable silence, neither one wanting to speak as they enjoyed the food.

Tom clapped his hands together once he finished the food. "If you continue making food at this level, I'll gain even more customers. Don't worry, you'll be hired, but I still expect you to clean the rooms to the best of your ability. I'd use my magic to clean the rooms but now that you're here, I'll just leave the chore to you."

He then scrutinised Nick closely. "I'll even give you the old pair of clothes you are wearing right now. You'll only need two pairs of clothing anyway." Nick nodded his head. He knew what he meant. Magic would wash and dry his clothes in an instant.

"Now trod along, the customers will be coming in soon." Tom pushed Nick into the kitchen. "Do your best." Nick nodded. He wasn't going to give anything but his best anyway.

Nick smiled. The first part of his plan worked out. He could earn money and the best thing about everything was that it would be easy for him to access the stores of Diagon Alley. He would be able to begin learning the basics of magic before he even went to Hogwarts. He could guess his age and it was nowhere close to eleven, considering he was way too short to be that age. _'My life is so much more interesting now isn't it.'_ Nick mused to himself.


	4. Blood Test

Nick had been working at the Leaky Cauldron for a month, he was excited about the wage he was soon to receive. He knew that he couldn't do much with the five galleons but at the very least it would allow him to buy a few things for himself. Nick's knowledge of the British wizarding world had now expanded to the point he knew about every single important event that had happened in the last century or so. As far as Nick was concerned, there had been no changes in the major events such as the war with Grindelwald and the so-called "defeat of Voldemort."

He had acquired another job working in Flourish and Blotts and he could be frequently seen in the store whenever his working hours in the Leaky Cauldron was over. He stacked the books, allowing him intimate knowledge of where everything went, though there were some books that he wasn't allowed to touch.

Nick had taken a trip to Gringotts but his trip was in vain. To take a blood inheritance test required 3 galleons and he didn't have the money at the time. After he received his pay, however, he was going to go straight to Gringotts.

Nick was in the middle of cleaning a room when Tom barged in with a small sack that jingled every time he bounced it up and down. "I bet you can guess what I'm about to give to you." Nick rolled his eyes at Tom's behaviour.

"My pay for the month." He said, with little to no emotion in his voice.

"Yep. Continue doing your best for the day, otherwise, I just might keep the money for myself." Tom playfully taunted Nick but Nick knew Tom well enough. He loved to tease others but he knew the limits of doing so. He wouldn't actually withhold the money from Nick considering how hard he had been working for the past month.

"I know, I know. Don't need to tell me. I'm the reason why business is booming for you." Nick responded with sassiness, putting both his hands on his hips. "You don't want to lose the new mascot of the Leaky Cauldron now do you?"

Tom shook his head quickly. "Of course not. Anyway... when you are done for the day, collect your pay." Nick nodded. He understood. It wasn't like he would forget about his pay that easily. He already had his eyes on a book that the owner of Flourish and Blotts was holding for him that would be sold at a very cheap price.

"Well, carry on with whatever you're doing. Don't want to keep you away from the kitchen, my stomach is already anticipating the meal that you cook for me today." Tom waved farewell to Nick. "Oh, and by the way, Hagrid says hello. He wants to meet you in three days at Fortescue's."

Though Nick didn't answer Tom verbally, his body language told Tom he heard him. _'Hm, it'd be nice to see Hagrid again.'_ He tilted his head as he swept the room clean of dust.

-Line Break-

Nick was running about in the kitchen to finish multiple dishes that were cooking at the same time. The Leaky Cauldron was the busiest it had ever been since Nick began working as a chef and cleaner. _'My God! I didn't think the students of Hogwarts would cause so much trouble for me.'_ Nick was unaware of the Leaky Cauldron's rising fame due to the delicious food he concocted and the excellent service he provided. The Leaky Cauldron was no longer just a simple pub, but could also be considered a place for eating.

Muggleborns who were introduced to the wizarding world would be enticed by the aroma of the food as they walked through the Leaky Cauldron, trying to make their way to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Unluckily for Nick, it meant that he had to do the work of multiple people by himself and the long hours he would have to be working in didn't make things any easier. Nick would've loved having Tom help him in the kitchen, but alas Tom's cooking skills were enough to make Nick vomit. Tom even admitted it was one of the reasons for the Leaky Cauldron's lack of customers besides the occasional drunks and those that passed by for work.

He busied himself in the kitchen until his working hours were finally over. The Leaky Cauldron only served food to customers during certain times of day, and those times were changed according to Nick's working hours. Tom was banned from entering the kitchen unless it was to retrieve the dishes so he could serve them to his customers.

Nick stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles at the same time. "I hope there's never such a busy day again in my life." He was speaking to Tom, as he was about to retrieve his month's earnings.

Tom's figure shook with mirth. "You might not wish for such a busy day but I certainly do." He took out the ledger and showed it to Nick. "Look at how much we've earned in a single day! This is a week's earning! I've never had so many patrons coming in. I'm surprised how many people are ordering drinks along with your food." Tom grinned, jubilant because of how much they had earned. "I'm going to owl our providers. We're going to run out of ingredients and drinks at this rate!" Tom took out a quill and started writing on parchment.

Nick cleared his throat. "Well, since my working hours are over, I would like my monthly earnings." He held out a hand, waiting for the pouch of coins to land in his palm.

Tom placed the quill on the table, staring at Nick's hand. "Right. Your monthly earnings." He reached for the pouch in question.

"You might find a little surprise in there." Tom returned to writing his letter to the providers, no longer giving any attention to Nick. Nick didn't mind Tom's behaviour, he was too ecstatic about the money to care.

Gripping the pouch of coins tightly, Nick glided his way out of the pub but not before thanking Tom. "Thanks, Tom! I'll see you later when I'm finished with the tasks I set for myself today!" He yelled, not caring about rudeness as only a few people were left in the pub.

Tom didn't bother raising his head, simply waving his hand to shoo Nick away. "Yes, yes. Go away now and spend the money. Do try to save some of the money for an emergency. It wouldn't do you any good to waste it all in a single day." He stopped speaking for a moment, holding the quill to his lips. "And do come back before 10 P.m.!"

"All right, don't get your knickers in a twist, I'll be back before you know it!" Nick pressed the bricks so he could enter Diagon Alley. Once the entrance was visible, Nick darted away towards Flourish and Blotts. He was already late though he didn't think the owner would mind too much.

When Nick entered Flourish and Blotts with a pale complexion, the owner sauntered over to him. "Well, what's the hurry? You're only late by," the owner gestured to the clock mounted above the counter, "about an hour or so? What held you up for so long?" The owner had a cheeky smile on his face as he questioned Nick.

Nick rolled his eyes but it went unseen because he was doubled over. "I'm sorry Mr Blotts," Nick panted, trying to inhale as much oxygen as he could to rid himself of the oxygen debt he had incurred from sprinting so quickly. "but we had a lot of people coming into the Leaky Cauldron today, and I've only just finished serving the last few customers."

Mr Blotts nodded. "Ah, the influx of customers..." He trailed off. "This is the best time of the year for any businessman in the Alley. So many students and families flock to the stores to buy their necessary items for a Hogwarts school year. Don't worry. I don't blame you for being late. It's not like I can't stack the books myself." He took out his wand. "After all, I'm a wizard." With grand gestures, he pointed his wand at the books. "Wingardium Leviosa." The books began to float as he completed the charm.

Nick, who was still stunned by magic every time he saw it, watched the flying books silently. He knew the charm was a First-year charm but it never failed to amaze him. Nick gritted his teeth in impatience. _'I can't wait to get my own wand. I'll be learning to break the Laws of Physics the moment I do.'_ He clapped in applause for Mr Blotts's dramatical display.

Mr Blotts bowed but stood straight afterwards to chastise Nick. "Don't just stand there watching me do the work! I'm paying you to do just that!" Nick stopped clapping immediately and hurried to the storeroom to take the books needed for stacking.

The time spent on stacking the books was much longer than Nick had expected it to take, but when he thought about it logically he could see why it had taken such a long time. The influx of students buying their necessities for the school year would definitely cause the number of books to dwindle. Mr Blotts did not talk to Nick for the entirety of the time he spent stacking the books because he was busy checking the ledger. Nick could bet that many of the store owners in Diagon Alley would be doing the exact same thing for the next week or so.

Nick rapped the counter after finishing his work. He wanted to purchase the book he had his eye on and leave for Gringotts immediately. The sun was already setting, and though Diagon Alley could be considered safe, he wouldn't take his chances walking around during the night.

"Mr Blotts, I've finished stacking the books." The owner glanced at Nick.

"Very good, Mr Banes." Mr Blotts dropped a single galleon onto the counter. "This is your pay for the month, the cost of the book you wanted has been deducted from your pay so this is all you will be receiving." Nick was astonished. He had forgotten about the pay he was receiving from the bookstore owner.

Bowing his head, Nick gave profuse thanks to Mr Blotts. "I had forgotten about the pay, but thank you very much." He retrieved the galleon and Mr Blotts placed a book on the counter.

"Here's the book you asked for. Keep it safe and try not to damage it because there's only so much restoration I can do to such an old book." The book was not as tattered as it had been when Nick first found it in the storeroom. "I'm still surprised you managed to find such a book. I've been cataloguing the books for years but I've never noticed it."

Nick scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "To be honest, I had been looking for books on Metamorphmagi ever since I began working here. This was the only one I found, and it had been in the transfiguration corner." Nick needed the book badly and for good reason too.

Talented as he was with his metamorphmagus abilities, he couldn't pull off everything he had thought of doing. He just didn't have the necessary amount of experience to change his body the way he wanted. He had much fun experimenting with his abilities and he hadn't yet found the limits of how he could change his body though that was obvious since he had only been able to change his the length and colour of his hair, and more recently the colour of his eyes.

"Well, you can go now. If you ever find any other old, obscure books and want to purchase them, then you can always ask me to hold onto them." Nick was happy with the deal because it would allow him to take as long as he needed to earn enough money for a book.

He opened the door, and wave farewell to the owner. "Thank you once again, Mr Blotts! I'll be back tomorrow for work! I'm not too sure if I'll be held up by the work in the Leaky Cauldron but I'll do my best to arrive as soon as possible."

"Very well, I can't fault you for being late since you have your reasons. Now go! Leave my sight before I remove your presence myself!" Nick bolted out of the store. He knew Mr Blotts would do just that.

Nick couldn't wait to peruse the book he held in his arms. He had seen the title of the book and knew he just had to get it. Nick hoped the book would be able to provide him with the answers to the questions he wanted to ask. He was cautious of practising with his metamorphmagus abilities. He only had vague information on the ability and that wasn't enough for him to be comfortable making major changes to his physiology.

Soon Nick could see the guards of Gringotts. Gringotts still impressed Nick every time he laid eyes on the building. The bank's undetectable extension charms made him drool.

 _'The ability to warp space...'_ He stared at the guards as he climbed the stairs leading to the bank. _'Difficult but not impossible, and that's what makes magic so amazing. Magic is able to do so much more compared to technology. It'll take at least decades if not centuries before science can even begin matching magic in its law-breaking abilities. That's not to say magic doesn't have its limitations because it does, but the limitations are so few.'_ Nick questioned the mindset of wizards and witches.

 _'It's weird how they wish to stay stagnant in their ways when they could do so much more with magic. They do not bother exploring magic with the limits, staying satisfied with what they have.'_ The snarls (grins) on the goblin guards' faces had him bowing respectfully.

Nick wanted to have a good relationship with the goblins of Gringotts for one reason. Money. Goblins controlled the economy of the British wizarding world seeing as how they were the ones who hold all their money in their cosy little vaults deep underground. Pissing off the goblins would not be a smart idea.

 _'Goblins deserve the same respect we give to other wizards and witches. They deal with our attitudes without even blinking an eye.'_ He stopped walking when he saw the goblin guards bowing back. 'Though I do suspect that the goblins care more for the money than they do for us.' He took a deep breath and entered the bank.

The bank was still as busy as ever. Goblins were all working their respective jobs and Nick couldn't help but have more respect for the goblins. They were still hard at work when most people would already be relaxing. Goblins were the ones who kept the wizarding economy running and it showed when he watched the employees in Gringotts.

After he was done being admiring the goblins, he walked towards a bank teller. Nick wasn't quite sure on how he was going to ask for a blood inheritance test. The only thing he actually knew to do was to talk to the teller respectfully.

Nick's short stature didn't help him in his approach as he couldn't even see past the counter. _'Damn, I'm so short that I think even the goblins are taller than me.'_ It was close to the truth. He was barely a few centimetres taller than the average goblin. _'I'm not even going to attempt changing my height.'_ Nick wasn't desperate enough to be noticed by all the goblins just yet.

Standing on his tiptoes, Nick cleared his throat to gain the teller's attention. Luckily, the teller's enhanced senses picked up the sound and the goblin climbed over the desk to spot Nick. "Excuse me, sir, I'd like to do a blood inheritance test." He said with as much courage he could muster. He gulped when the teller stared at him with an intense gaze.

"A blood inheritance test? That will be three galleons." The goblin's long slender fingers tapped the desk, waiting for Nick to retrieve the money.

Nick's courage left him as he retrieved the coins. The galleons were placed into the goblin's waiting hand, and the teller closed his hand around the coins. The teller counted the coins before jumping off the chair. "Follow me." Nick didn't need any further encouragement. He followed the goblin nervously.

The goblin led him into a side room. The room had one single feature. A marble pillar table stood in the very middle and on top of the table was what looked like parchment and a dagger. "Three drops of blood for two generations and seven drops of blood for seven generations." The goblin recited what seemed to be instructions. Nick stared at the dagger.

 _'Right, be brave. It's only three drops of blood since I don't care for anybody beyond my parents.'_ He gulped, bringing the dagger towards his palm before slicing in a single fluid motion. Nick gasped at the pain but let out no other noise.

"You could have just pricked your finger." The teller's voice sounded out but Nick ignored the goblin in favour of watching his blood drip onto the parchment. Once three drops landed, the goblin grabbed his hand and muttered underneath his breath. The cut healed immediately. "The dagger would have taken care of your injury but it is better to make sure." Nick was intrigued by the prospect of the properties of the dagger.

 _'How would it have healed my injury? Would it have just sealed it?'_ Nick was unsure but his attention was dragged back to the parchment when the goblin picked it up. The goblin took out a pair of spectacles before placing it back on the table.

"Interesting results, but I won't ruin the surprise. See for yourself little one." The goblin turned the parchment towards him so he could read the words properly.

Name:

Corvus Tonks

Parents:

Edward Tonks [Father] (Alive)

Andromeda Tonks née Black [Mother] (Alive)

Grandparent(s):

Cygnus Black [Maternal Grandfather] (Deceased)

Druella Black [Maternal Grandmother] (Deceased)

-Other relatives unknown-

Sibling(s):

Nymphadora Tonks [Sister] (Alive)

Godparent(s):

None

Ability(s):

Metamorphmagus


	5. Tonks

Nick blinked owlishly at the results. They were unexpected but Nick didn't have time to be pondering the results as he needed to make his way back to the Leaky Cauldron. He bowed to the goblin and thanked him. The goblin was left standing alone when Nick ran out of the room and then out the bank.

"What an interesting human. So young and yet so respectful to a race that many wizards and witches deem beneath them." The goblin grinned. "At least I can inform the Tonks family about the results. I think they would be rather pleased with the knowledge that their son is alive."

Nick arrived at the Leaky Cauldron in record time after sprinting from the bank the entire way. Tom greeted Nick when he entered the pub but Nick was completely astounded by the blood test results that he ignored Tom's greeting. Tom could tell Nick was not behaving like his usual self and walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay, lad? You're acting strangely."

Nick was jolted out of his reverie and gazed at Tom, he hadn't accepted the results for what they were. He was panicking and Nick wasn't able to voice his worries to anyone lest they think him crazy. "I'm fine, I just need to rest. Today's been a busy day and I'd like to tuck into bed early."

Tom stared at Nick, unsatisfied with the answer. "Go on then, rest well. Tomorrow will probably be just as busy. I'll let the customers know that dinner will be off the menu for today. Don't worry about cleaning the rooms, I'll do it myself." He gave leave to Nick. Tom could see Nick's pale complexion and wasn't going to keep him any longer.

Nick ascended the stairs, unlocked his room and fell face-first onto his bed. Nick's groans were muffled by the blankets. _'I can't believe this is happening. I would rather be an unknown side-character in the Harry Potter world than be someone who wasn't supposed to exist!'_ Though Nick had told himself not to worry about the possibility of the world he was in being an alternate universe, the results brought up his concerns once again.

 _'I fucking hate this already.'_ He smashed his head against the blankets multiple times in frustration. 'Maybe the only change is my existence. Maybe all the events that have occurred up to now have stayed faithful to the books, and all the events that will occur will go the same way unless I purposely affect those events.' Nick tried to convince himself for the better part of an hour before falling asleep from exhaustion and shock.

-Line Break-

A week passed since Nick's parentage was revealed to him. He had continued to work his jobs without the results invading his thoughts. The jobs in the Leaky Cauldron and Flourish and Blotts helped entertain his mind with thoughts other than the results due to how busy it was. He had no time to be worrying about the results.

Nick eventually accepted the results for what they were. As long as the Tonks family never knew of him, then everything would be fine. He did not want to interact with the Tonks family even though they didn't affect too many events of the Harry Potter world until the latter half of the series.

Nick had met with Hagrid at Fortescue's ice cream parlour. Hagrid wanted to know how he was doing. Nick answered a few of his questions before covertly manipulating Hagrid into telling him stories about the Marauders. Nick was enthralled by the stories. Nick had always been impressed by the ingenuity of the Marauders, and the stories made him more so. Though he was upset by many of the stories Hagrid told him because too many of the Marauder's pranks were malicious even though they were done with the intent of having fun.

The meeting ended with Hagrid patting Nick on the head, saying his farewells before setting off to complete the task he had come to the Alley for.

The number of customers that came to the Leaky Cauldron had dwindled down to a manageable count and Nick had adjusted to the busy week fairly quick. Even with his swift adjustment, Nick's exhaustion was apparent to anybody who looked at his face. Tom was starting to feel worried about Nick. This led to Tom approaching Nick.

"Lad, I think it's about time you took a day off for yourself. You need some rest." Nick's protests were stopped when Tom held his hand up. "Look in the mirror lad. If you think your metamorphmagus abilities would have helped you escape notice, then you were wrong. I don't need to see your face to know you are tired." Tom pushed Nick away from the kitchen before he could even take a single step towards it.

Nick sighed. He knew he couldn't win the argument because he was truly exhausted. The week had worn him out more than he had expected. Instead of going back to sleep, Nick grabbed the book on metamorphmagi and made his way to Flourish and Blotts to inform the owner about taking a day to rest.

Mr Blotts was more than willing to give Nick a day off since his job wasn't too terribly difficult to finish alone. Nick apologised to Mr Blotts and thanked him for allowing him a rest day on such short notice. Once he informed Mr Blotts about his exhaustion, he made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

In the past week, Nick never had enough time to sit down and begin perusing the book he had purchased. If he hadn't been distracted by all his work and exhaustion, he would've long begun reading the book.

Nick sat on the bed with a blanket wrapped around him with the book on his lap. _'It's finally time for me to learn how to control this ability. It's fun experimenting by myself but I'm too scared to try anything else without more information.'_ Nick was being cautious. Modifying body parts was risky and even though he had the ability to correct those changes, he could not help being careful.

He opened the book. _'I'm going to skim the pages until I find where it mentions how to control the changes.'_ Nick skimmed each page but was unable to find anything which told him about control. The extent of the information the book covered on metamorphmagi wasn't much. It talked about how metamorphmagi can transform their body but nothing else. The majority of the book talked about the links between the ability and transfiguration. This led to Nick putting down the book, as he tried to rub a headache away.

 _'I don't understand anything that is being said in this book! It doesn't even cover anything about how I'm supposed to control the ability!'_ He screamed into the blanket, infuriated about the wasted money and lack of information. Nick laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. "Do I really have to talk to Tonks? She managed to control the ability without anybody teaching her, so it must be possible for me to do the same. I don't want to experiment carelessly though." Nick was stuck between the two choices. One was to voluntarily contact his family and the other was to experiment by himself, possibly being injured in the process.

"Argh, I can't take the risk of experimenting alone." Nick was just about to throw the book onto the floor when somebody knocked on his door.

Nick tore the blanket away from his body and stomped towards the door. He opened the door, glaring at the person who dared to disturb him. "What do you want?" His tone unfriendly.

"Wotcher, is this Corvus Tonks's room?" Nick's brain was slow to react but when he recognised the person speaking to him, he slammed the door and locked it behind him. He slumped against the door. Nick didn't care about being rude at that moment. He was still aggravated by the book and had been in the middle of choosing between two options. Nick never thought about Nymphadora Tonks personally looking for him.

 _'Nobody is supposed to know I exist, so how does she know that name?'_ Nick stared at the wall and determined the way Tonks managed to find him. _'Must've been the goblin teller. Still doesn't explain how she tracked me down.'_ Nick wanted to show the goblin his fury but thought better of it. He heard the constant knocking on the door, growing in volume the longer he stayed silent.

"You've got the wrong room. My name is Nick Banes, there hasn't been any Corvus's or Tonks's in the Leaky Cauldron since I started working here." The knocking faltered for a second.

"Could you please open the door? I'd like to see the face of the person talking to me at least. I'll be considered crazy the longer I'm standing here speaking to a door.

Nick rolled his eyes. "No. I'm exhausted and I'm trying to fall asleep. Please leave me alone." He let the weariness into his voice.

"Fine! I'll leave you alone but expect me to come back!" Footsteps thumped against the floor. Nick huffed.

 _'Glad she's gone, but she's going to keep on bugging me until I come out isn't she?'_ Nick was sure that Tonks would stick to her words. 

-Line Break-

A few hours passed and Nick was well-rested. His stomach grumbled. 'Yeah, let's go cook some food.' He unlocked his door, not bothering to lock it again. He was too lazy to lock the door. He knew that there were no patrons currently staying in the other rooms so everything inside his room would be safe. Nobody entered the floor without Tom knowing about it.

Nick descended the staircase and was about to move towards the kitchen when a pair of arms wrapped around his body. Nick struggled, he couldn't break free of the hold. His body was too tiny to muster up enough strength. He began to kick the person holding him. "Will. You. Let. Go. Of. Me!" The assailant's grip loosened when they were both sent flying towards a wall. Nick wasn't too affected by the crash since the assailant had cushioned him.

He could feel his face heating up when he felt the stares on him. He turned around to see all the patrons regarding him. Nick retreated to the kitchen, embarrassed by his outburst being witnessed.

Not long after Nick entered the kitchen, the assailant came to apologise to him. "Hey, I'm sorry for surprising you. I didn't think you would react like that." Nick recognised the voice as Tonks's.

"Leave me alone. I don't understand what you want with me." He didn't spare her a glance. He concentrated on his cooking. Nick did not want to deal with her when he was on an empty stomach. He had little energy to spare.

"You know your hair is still red right? I know you are still angry with me but could you at least give me a chance to explain myself?" Silence ensued between the pair. Tonks sighed. "I'll be waiting outside when you're ready to talk to me. I'm not leaving until we have a proper conversation. She exited the kitchen with her shoulders slumped. After she left, Nick ceased his cooking to check on his hair.

 _'Huh, she's right. My emotions must have overloaded the miniscule control I had.'_ He relaxed and concentrated on changing his hair back to brown. He continued to stare at his reflection in the handheld mirror he bought. Nick was in the middle of smoothing out his hair when he noticed the crimson in his eyes. _'What the hell? I don't want to be like Voldemort.'_ He snorted when an idea came into mind. _'I can imagine turning into Voldemort to scare people away.'_ Nick could think of all the pranks he could pull off. _'Nah, I don't want to be crucified by Dumbledore.'_ He shivered. _'Voldemort's appearance is stupid anyway. I don't understand why he would willingly mutilate himself for immortality. I mean living for so long is not such a great thing. Look at Dumbledore, a sad manipulative bas-'_ He stopped going down that train of thought.

He glanced at the clock. 'Still have five minutes before the water is boiled.' He sat on a stool, drumming his fingers on a table before sighing. _'It doesn't look like I'll be able to prevent myself from meeting the Tonks family. Tonks is very stubborn and she'll eventually manage to catch me when I'm alone.'_

Nick did not look forward to meeting the family. He had no idea how he was going to explain himself. _'How should I lie to them if they ask me questions?'_ It was something he needed to think about.

Whilst Nick busied himself in the kitchen with his thoughts and the food, Tonks was talking with Tom quietly.

"I'm afraid I might have lost any chance of gaining his trust. I didn't expect him to react in such a way." Tonks's hair was split into two colours.

Tom pushed a glass of water towards her. "I would've reacted the same way he did. You scared him with the prank. You have to remember you aren't in Hogwarts right now. He reacted in an appropriate manner." Tonks groaned.

"How am I going to speak to him when he won't even meet my eyes? He slammed the door in my face without even giving me a chance to explain myself." She didn't know how she was going to explain to her mother about coming home empty-handed. Her mother was expecting to meet him by today and she dreaded the consequences of failing to secure a meeting between the two. "Mother is going to kill me when she finds out what I did."

Tom rubbed circles along her back. "I'd give you alcohol to drown your sorrows but you should stay sober if you want to explain things to him properly." Tom had never seen Nick behave like this before so he couldn't give much advice to Tonks. "Nick has always been a polite and mature boy. He doesn't hesitate to send retorts back to rude customers. If you asked nicely then I'm sure he would've agreed to meet your parents."

"But that's the thing! I did ask politely but like I said, he slammed the door on me!" She didn't know what Nick had been thinking about. "I asked him whether the room was Corvus Tonks's but the only thing I could do was speak to a door! He didn't even have the grace to speak to me directly face-to-face." Tonks registered the name Tom had said. "I don't understand why you call him Nick. His name is Corvus, there shouldn't be any reason for him to deny his birth name!"

Tom spoke in a grave tone. "I'm not the lad so I don't know what's going through his head. What I do know is that Nick didn't know he had family still alive. He wouldn't have asked me for a job and a room if he knew he still had relatives. As mature as Nick can be, he's still a child and he would have been unable to cope with living away from his family for long periods of time." He glanced towards the kitchen. "He's a smart lad, and I'm glad he has a family but no matter what happens, allow him time to adjust the newfound knowledge." Tonks tore her gaze away from her water and stared at Tom. She was holding onto every word he said. Tonks knew she needed the advice Tom gave her.

Nodding slowly, Tonks took a sip of her water. "He's known about us for a week. Do you think that's not enough time?"

Tom shook his head. "Everybody is different. For some, they would accept it in an instant, and for others..." he trailed off. "sometimes they never do." The sombre atmosphere had both staring at their drinks quietly, neither person saying another word.

Tonks slid off the bar stool and left a few knuts beside her drink. "Thanks for the advice, Tom." She spared one last glance at the kitchen before shaking her head. "I'm going to leave first. Give him my apologies." Tears threatened to fall when she spoke. "Tell him that our family will always welcome him home no matter what happens." She strode towards the fireplace and disappeared shortly after.

Tom watched his other patrons for a few seconds before looking over the bar counter. "You can come out now, Nick. No sense in hiding when she's already gone."

Silence followed.

Tom sighed. "I'm not lying, have some faith in me."

"I'm not sure whether I should have faith in you. You directed her towards my room, didn't you?" Though Tom couldn't see Nick, he could still hear the accusation in his voice.

"No, I didn't. I allowed her to go up the stairs because she asked me for a favour." Tom was slightly fed up with looking like he was crazy. "Would you please give me the pleasure of sitting where I can see you? I'm not impressed by how rude you've been today." He chastised Nick for his behaviour.

"I don't care about what you think!"

"I had expected this sort of behaviour from other children but not you. You're smarter than this and definitely mature enough to understand where I'm coming from." Tom continued to speak. "The blame cannot be solely placed upon young Tonks's shoulders because your own actions caused the situation to escalate."

Nick was hidden underneath the bar counter, mulling over Tom's words. He couldn't deny the truth in what Tom was saying. They would have had a quiet conversation if he hadn't slammed the door. Nick grimaced. He hadn't meant to slam Tonks into the wall but the accidental magic had occurred due to his emotions running wild. He pushed himself off the floor so that he could be seen by Tom.

Nick decided to be the one to correct things. He was willing to meet the Tonks family. He would give them a chance. _'There's no point in trying to hide if they already know about me.'_ He closed his eyes. He hoped his interactions with his new family would not cause any direct changes to the plotline. _'I'll try my best to stay out of major events unless I have no other choice but to do so.'_

"Tom, do you have an owl I can borrow? I wish to send a letter." He didn't want to look at Tom. He could feel the smug grin Tom had on his face.

"I don't have an owl, but you can use one of the owls from the Owl Post." Nick nodded, turned away and made his way to his room.

"Thanks, Tom." Nick grasped the handrail when fatigue hit him like a truck.

Tom continued to stare at Nick's back with a content expression on his face. _'It looks like he's quick to learn from my words. I hope the lad doesn't get into any trouble. His life is already difficult.'_ He cast his gaze back towards his drink. _'He really grows on you.'_ Tom picked up his drink and became wiping the table with a tablecloth.

-Line Break- 

Nymphadora Tonks sat at the dinner table. The scolding never came even after she related the events at the Leaky Cauldron. Instead, her mother stared at her with a disappointed expression. Her father tried his best to cheer them up.

"Dora dear, has your application for the programme been accepted yet?" He passed a plate to Andromeda.

Dora could see how hard her father was trying to lighten the atmosphere. She swallowed her food before replying. "No, it's too early for a reply to be sent so quickly. I'm not sure if I will be accepted. The screening process is thorough, everything will be under scrutiny, even Corvus." She waited with bated breath for her mother to finally explode.

Still, Andromeda managed to keep her cool, though Dora noticed her mother clenching the silverware tightly.

"But they do not know about Corvus and they would have no reason to know about him until he enters Hogwarts." Ted protested, the idea of his son being observed covertly made him uneasy. Their conversation steered into dangerous territory, both Dora and Ted could feel the tension in the air.

"Corvus," Andromeda stopped herself, refraining from saying something she would regret. "will stay safe. My family will not be ripped to shreds by those who seek to do harm. If they poke their heads into matters that do not concern them, then I'm sure your brother will be able to handle anything that comes his way." Her eyes had taken on a steely glint.

Ted started, "Surely not Dromeda! The boy hasn't even begun to learn how to use magic yet!" Ted was astonished his wife would say that.

Andromeda's control snapped. "Well, clearly he's been able to live by himself for the past ten years! He's probably capable of handling himself. I would love to offer my motherly protection. I'd smother him with my love and make sure he never leaves my sight but I can't do that now can I? The boy's probably grown up without familial love, and smothering him at this age wouldn't do him any good!"

Dora cleared her throat, hoping she was able to stop her parents from arguing. "Mum," she was uncertain about the reactions she would receive after saying her piece. "brother doesn't want to be called Corvus just yet."

Andromeda glared at her daughter. "Then what does he want to be called? You have to know that I won't be calling him anything else besides his birth name."

Dora was starting to regret speaking up. "Well mum, he's been calling himself Nick Banes." Andromeda's mouth was about th open when an owl swooped into their house.

Ted held out his arm and the owl perched itself upon it. Ted untied the letter from the owl's foot, giving it a few treats before it flew away. He scanned the contents of the letter as Andromeda and Dora continued to eat. Dora's curiosity got the better of her.

"Who sent the letter, dad?" She wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Apparently it's from your brother."


	6. Letter

"Apparently it's from your brother." Dora's surprise couldn't be hidden, gasping suddenly at the reveal. Extending her arm, she snatched the letter away from her father and read the first few lines of the letter.

"You're right the letter is from him." Dora was puzzled. She hadn't expected anything from her brother at all considering she never got a chance to properly speak to him. Ted looked at Dora disapprovingly.

"Dora! Don't snatch things from my hands. I know you are impatient when it comes to your brother but there's no need be so rude." Ted knew his daughter very well and could tell she was confused. He stopped reprimanding her. "Since you already have the letter then read it out for everybody, after all, the letter concerns everybody in the household." He ordered, looking at his wife's face as he did so. He saw his wife's eager expression but it was quickly hidden away underneath a mask.

Following her father's wishes, Dora began reading the letter.

"Dear Tonks family, I have written this letter in hopes that I will be forgiven for my rude behaviour when I first met your daughter. I take the blame for escalating the situation, and I sincerely apologise to Nymphadora Tonks for slamming her into the wall with accidental magic. I do hope that didn't hurt." Dora cursed underneath her breath, her back was still in pain. Andromeda sent a glance to her daughter, an eyebrow raised.

"Nymphadora, you didn't tell me about this..." Andromeda searched for the word she was looking for. "incident." Dora gulped, knowing that she wouldn't be able to escape explaining to her mother about what happened. She had left certain parts out when she was telling her mother about the events in the Leaky Cauldron.

"There wasn't any reason for me to tell you, mum. That was my business, and I felt there was no need to tell you." Dora tried to evade explaining any further and was thinking of ways to exact revenge against her younger brother. _'I'll treat him to a prank the first chance I get. It'll be a good way to loosen up the tension between us, right?'_ Dora was unsure whether her pranks would resolve the tension between them but she decided it was better to hold off on the pranks. _'Yeah... I think it would be wise if I left the pranking for later. Don't want to strain our relationship even further.'_

Andromeda looked at her daughter, attempt to glean more information from her face. "Very well, continue reading the letter. I won't poke my head into your matters unless circumstances force me." Dora let out a relieved sigh, her mother truly was a force to be reckoned with when she wanted something.

With her mother prompting her to continue reading, she aimed to finish the letter as quickly as possible. "I extend an invitation to the family to meet me 9 A.m. tomorrow at Gringotts bank where secrecy will be ensured. There is no reason for any others to be involved in this meeting as the matters pertaining to me can be resolved between us. I also extend an invitation to the goblin who informed you of my revival, as I wish to speak with him as well. I truly hope that everything will be sorted out during this meeting. I do not wish for a strained relationship between the family. Corvus." The letter was signed off in a way that had Dora whispering at the end.

There were many questions Andromeda wished to ask but was unable to because she hadn't actually met her son. Instead, she favoured questioning her daughter. "Nymphadora, did you lie to me about his name? He's clearly using his name here without a problem." Dora was scandalised her mother would think she would lie to her about matters of such importance.

"No mum, I never lie to you about anything"-taking a deep breath, she continued with what she had to say- "I would have thought you knew me better than to think I would lie to you especially when it comes to family matters." She threw her napkin onto the table, stood up and stormed up the stairs.

Ted reached out to his wife, wanting to placate her. "Dromeda-" he was cut off by her holding out a hand.

"There's no need to say anything, Ted. I didn't mean for her to react this way when I questioned her this harshly, but I had to be sure."

Ted's eyebrows furrowed as he attempted to make sense of what his wife was saying. He stopped trying to do so and directly asked her about what she was talking about. "Sure about what? You know Dora's always told you the truth when it concerns important things."

"I needed to know if my baby boy truly denied his heritage!" She screamed the words. It hurt her in the core to admit she was scared about her son denying his relations to the family.

Ted left his seat and hugged his wife. Rubbing consoling circles into her back. "He didn't deny his relation to the family, otherwise he would've never used his birth name. You should have trusted Dora to be truthful. I know"-he lowered himself he could whisper-"I know how scared you are. I'm feeling the same exact way. But think of it this way, our son is alive and he's willingly contacted us. Aren't you happy you'll get to meet him?" Ted too was distraught about his son but he had to stay strong for his family.

"Of course I'm happy we'll get to meet him!" She sobbed into her hands.

"Then that should be enough. It doesn't matter whether he accepts us as his family," He lifted his wife's chin so that she could see him. Placing a hand over his heart, he continued to speak. "because in our hearts he will always be family to us. Cheer up Dromeda, no matter what happens during the meeting, at least remember that he would've been considered dead to us if we didn't know he was still alive."

The tears began pouring down Andromeda's face. "Thank you, Ted. I don't know where I would be without you."

Ted stopped rubbing circles as he thought of a reply. "Well, you'd probably still be in the Black family if you hadn't met me." Andromeda snorted and slapped him on the head.

"Oh please, that's a joke. I would still be disowned by the family even if I hadn't met you. My views on the pureblood mindset don't match theirs. The only reason why Sirius hadn't been officially disowned was due to him being the Head's son. Blasted off the family tapestry by Walburga Black but he was never disowned by his father and Arcturus."

"I wasn't offered the same courtesy." Andromeda looked at her husband solemnly. "And I would have done anything in the world as long as I met you." She placed a hand on his cheek and began kissing him passionately.

Ted pulled away from Andromeda. "We should send a reply back to Corvus so he knows we've accepted his invitation. We also need to write a letter to Gornuk to tell him about the meeting." Andromeda pulled him back.

"We can do that after we finish this. So shut up and continue kissing."

As they continued their affections to each other, Dora drew back from the staircase in disgust. "Ew, I can't believe they started making out." Dora had calmed down from her outburst fairly quickly after she left her parents alone. She accepted the fact that she had overreacted and was slightly repentant for walking out of the kitchen. She patted her stomach. "I'm sorry body, guess we'll have to wait until they are asleep before I can fill you up." She climbed the stairs noiselessly, not wanting to attract her parent's attention.

-Line Break- 

The Tonks family was up and about early in the morning. They were preparing themselves for the meeting at Gringotts. There were still two hours before they were to meet Corvus, but their nerves, well only really Andromeda and Dora, had forced to wake up early and begin panicking. Ted was watching the two with a smile, it wasn't very often he got to see the ladies worked up.

"The two of you should try your best to stop worrying about the meeting. We still have close to two hours before we have to arrive. I'm sure you can compose yourselves by then, right?" He gestured for them to sit down. There was no need in wasting so much energy. They hadn't had breakfast yet since Andromeda hoped she would be able to have a meal with her son after the meeting. It would be considered brunch if he did accept to dine with them.

Andromeda ogled her husband. "How are you not worried? This is our very first meeting with our son. You should be just as nervous!" Ted tried to placate his wife before she assaulted him.

"I am nervous. I'm just holding myself back. There's no point in plaguing your thoughts over what he's like or whether he will accept us or not." He tried to cease the worrying thoughts he was certain his wife had in her mind. "Look at Dora, she's no longer bothered by this." He pointed at Dora who was sitting on the couch reading a book.

Andromeda huffed but agreed to let go of her worries for the moment. She sat down next to her husband who wrapped his arms around her. The silence in the living room lasted for five minutes before Andromeda was unable to stay silent. "How about we go visit Corvus at the Leaky Cauldron? I'm sure he'd be pleasantly surprised."

Dora snickered at her mother's words. "Mum, I'd think he be more horrified with you showing up there."

Ted stroked his wife's hair. "Dora's right. He'd call off the meeting if we approached him in any other place than the arranged location."

"I can't just sit here, I'm going to worry my head off!" Andromeda complained. Dora was laughing at her mother for behaving anything less than the refined woman she liked to say she was.

"Love, could you leave the room for a moment? I'd like to speak to your mother alone." Ted looked at Dora with pleading eyes.

"Sure, whatever. Just remember to call me down from my room when we are about to leave. I don't want to miss the meeting." Dora began making her way to her room, giving her parents some alone time.

Ted whipped out his wand to cast a silencing charm when he was sure his daughter was no longer in range to see what he and Andromeda were about to do. "How about I take your mind off things?" He whispered into Andromeda's ear with a husky voice. "Hmm? What do you say to that?"

"Oh, why not?" The two began making love to each other.

-Line Break-

"Isn't he rather late? It's already been ten minutes since we arrived?" Andromeda stared at the goblin who was not heeding her complaints.

"Dromeda, I'm sure he'll be here soon. Dora explained that he has a job at the Leaky Cauldron. So maybe the customers are just holding him there for a while." Ted placated his wife. He was unsure how much longer he would able to appease his wife before she went barging into the Leaky Cauldron to look for their son herself. Dora was busy studying the goblin who was waiting with them in a waiting room at Gringotts. She was attempting to copy the features of the goblin, she had never got the chance to study a goblin up close because they would usually scare her off with their menacing grins.

She stopped studying the goblin when the door to the room opened. Dora strained her eyes to see who the figure was but she didn't need to exert herself because the figure announced himself. "I apologise for my late arrival but I was held up by some of the customers at my workplace." The figure held out his hand. "Name's Corvus Tonks, it's a pleasure to meet you."


	7. Meeting the family

Corvus had chosen to use the name which had been given to the body he was now inhabiting. The only way he would stop thinking about his previous life was to accept everything about his new body, and that included his name and the family that came with it. It helped him in identifying his feelings for being transmigrated into a new world. He had long accepted the fact that he would no longer be able to return and wanted to enjoy his new life to the fullest. He had opportunities presented to him with the new body. He could forge a life which wasn't boring for himself.

He wanted to be loved and cherished by a family once more, and he would try to be the best for his family so he wouldn't disappoint them.

Corvus's introduction had the family stunned for a few seconds. Gornuk, the goblin, walked up to Corvus and shook his hand. "I'm glad to see you again. The Tonks family was astonished when I informed them about their son being alive. I do not apologise for going behind your back because I was under a contract to give the family information regarding you." Corvus nodded, accepting Gornuk's reasoning for informing his family.

"I'm glad you gave me the opportunity to meet the family myself. I wasn't too sure how to go about approaching them." Corvus didn't mind bending the truth slightly.

Once Andromeda managed to get over her shock, she began approaching Corvus with shaking hands. "Corvus..." He turned around. "You don't know how happy I am to know you are alive. Bless Merlin for bringing you back to us." She hugged him, suffocating him with the tight embrace.

Dora tapped her mother on the shoulder. "Mum, I think he's going to die if you continue hugging him." Andromeda turned around and let go of Corvus in surprise.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry!" The guilt came off Andromeda in waves, and it was obvious to those who looked at her dismayed face.

Corvus rolled his back his shoulders. "It's okay. I enjoyed the suffocating embrace though I was quite surprised by how sudden it was." He had no idea why he felt so pleased with Andromeda's positive change in emotion. He had suspicions that there were some leftover feelings from the previous inhabitant of the body but he knew that most of what he felt was his own emotions. _'I haven't been embraced so lovingly in a long time. I must have forgotten what it felt like to be loved.'_ Corvus looked at Ted-still unable to call him father-speaking with Gornuk at the side. His attention was pulled towards the bubblegum pink hair of his sister.

He was confused as to why he accepted Dora as his sister so quickly but he dismissed the thought in favour of asking her about metamorphmagus abilities. "Why would you willingly choose to wear that colour on your hair? Don't you find it rather distracting if it falls in front of your face? It also catches a lot of attention so I don't see why you would keep it that way."

Tonks looked at her new brother, hesitating whether they should be acting in such a familiar way. They had only just met each other yesterday and it hadn't even been on the best terms. She remembered his written apology and decided to give it a chance. "Ah my little brother, you have to remember I can change the length"-she changed her hair to buzz cut length-"of my hair whenever I choose to. And you," She poked him on the nose. "can learn to do the same thing." Corvus was ecstatic with the idea of learning how to utilise his abilities to the limits. "I also wear this colour to stave off nasty boys like you." She was teasing him, but Corvus noticed sadness hidden in her tone. He knew not to push, they barely knew each other and he doubted she would start spilling her private life to him.

"When will you teach me to do this?" He needed confirmation on when he would begin learning more about his abilities. He would be able to pester Dora constantly if she forgot about her promise.

Dora bit her lip. "I've graduated from Hogwarts so I have spare time. I can begin the lessons whenever you want me to." She didn't have anything on her schedule because she was waiting for a reply on her application to the Auror programme. She gave Corvus the freedom to choose his lesson dates because he was the busier one.

"I still need to work for Tom and Mr Blotts every day, so I only have free time during the evening." He was pensive. "I think it'd be best to have our lessons on the weekdays as the pub is usually busier on the weekends. I'd be too tired to listen to anything you would teach me." He tapped his chin. "How about Mondays and Wednesdays?"

Dora clapped her hands together. "Great! Do you want to start next week?" Dora was eager to begin teaching her little brother about his metamorphmagus abilities. It would give her time to bond with her brother, and it would allow her to improve the impression her little brother had of her. Dora knew that Corvus had forgiven her but it still weighed on her conscience.

"Sure." He nodded his head, their schedule had been planned.

Andromeda chose this moment to interrupt their conversation. "Why would you want to continue working in the Leaky Cauldron and Flourish and Blotts? Both Ted and I can provide money for you so there's really no need for you to burden yourself with menial work." She spoke with good intentions but Ted knew his wife had gone too far. What he didn't know was that his wife was playing a game with Corvus.

Corvus glared at his mother. "This menial work I've been doing has paid for my accommodation and food. And I quite enjoy the work I'm being paid to do." Corvus's anger was actually a facade for his true emotions. He knew Andromeda was testing him. He had no idea why she would suddenly test him but went along with whatever she had planned.

She sniffed pretentiously. "Well, if that's what you want then I'll allow you to continue doing so." She came off sounding haughty. Corvus mentally raised an eyebrow at Andromeda's behaviour. He was amused by how quickly she managed to turn the situation in her favour. If he didn't give a response, he would be playing into her hands. He considered his next few words carefully.

"I'm capable of living by myself. Frankly, I don't quite see the reason why I should need your permission to continue doing what I want." A sound argument that had few ways to be countered, Corvus was glad he had experience in dealing with several sly businessmen in his past life. Corvus was not surprised his mother when his mother replied swiftly.

"Oh?" She looked surprised. "Of course, you need my permission to continue working your jobs." She placed a hand on her chest. "You aren't at the legal age of majority so my word as your guardian can have you fired from your jobs." Corvus mentally applauded Andromeda's ingenuity for making any other retorts futile. "I also doubt your ability to provide for yourself. Look at how tiny and starved you are!"

Corvus glowered at Andromeda. "You win this battle but don't expect me to take this lying down. In the future, whenever you want something from me, expect a fight." His new body's height was a sore point for him. He hadn't grown a single inch since he woke up in his new body. The only explanation he had for his height was due to its young age. "I'm tiny because I haven't hit my growth spurt. Wait a few years and I'll be just as tall as you!" He hoped Ted's genetics had been passed to him.

Andromeda shook her head and smiled expectantly. "I wouldn't expect any less." Dora and Ted were both looking confused. They were unable to understand the wordplay exchanged between the two. Dora, who was the more vocal of the bewildered pair, spoke up.

"Should I be worried?" Dora was scared. She didn't want her family members ripping at each other's throats. Ted placed his hand on Dora's right shoulder when he had enough time to grasp the underlying reason for their exchange.

"It's fine. Your mother and brother were playing a game." Dora was still puzzled.

"A game? That was not a game! They were basically yelling at each other!" Dora yelled. Andromeda and Corvus exchanged amused looks.

"You'll understand it one day, sister." Corvus's eyes were dancing with mirth. His sister was still innocent, no doubt retained because of how open and friendly the Hufflepuffs were.

Dora huffed at her brother, annoyed she didn't understand. She began walking away from her laughing family when she tripped over her own feet. They laughed even louder. She changed the length of her legs. _'I guess this counts as a prank, but he deserves this one.'_ Her foot hooked Corvus's ankle and she made him trip forward. She laughed when he fell on top of her chest.

Ted and Andromeda looked at the scene with fond smiles. It had been years since they had seen their daughter's unrestrained emotions. They had noticed Dora's control over emotions improve tremendously until it reached the point they only saw a mask on her face. Andromeda knew something had forced her daughter to begin wearing masks but never pushed the matter because it hadn't hurt her just yet. Ted hoped the addition to their small family would continue bringing smiles to their face.

"You should stop laughing at my clumsiness! I bet that you'll be just as clumsy when you begin learning how to change your height!"

Corvus was no longer laughing at his sister, instead, his face began paling at her words. _'I don't want to be tripping over my own feet at random times!'_ He liked carrying himself gracefully, and he wasn't planning to lose the body's natural agility. It had proved useful and would continue to do so in the future, as long as he retained the ability to stay on his own two feet.

"I'll make sure to never trip over my own feet. I'm smarter than that."

"I bet you wouldn't be able to! Trust me when I say you will become just as clumsy as I am after you learn to alter your height." Dora's certainty on the topic wasn't dispelling Corvus's fears.

"Don't accept the bet, Corvus. Dora's probably unhappy with her natural clumsiness. She was already falling over her own two feet even before she could consciously control her abilities." Ted spoke up. Dora's face turned scarlet at her father's betrayal.

"Dad, you're supposed to be on my side!"

"Do try to behave your ages, Nymphadora, Edward." Andromeda stopped anybody from continuing the banter. Ted knew his wife was being serious when she wasn't using his nickname. "We haven't even introduced ourselves to Corvus."

"There's really no need Mrs Tonks, I already know all of your names through the blood inheritance test." Corvus stopped speaking when Ted and his sister began shaking their heads behind her back.

"It's only polite that we do so." She held out her hand. "My name is Andromeda Tonks née Black, I'm your mother. Don't call me Mrs Tonks because it makes me sound older than I am." Corvus felt weird shaking his own mother's hand. Dora saw the awkward handshake and stepped in.

"I'm your sister, Nymphadora Tonks! Call me Dora or Tonks! Anything else besides that is not fine." A dangerous smile could be seen on her face. Corvus laughed at his sister's introduction. Seemed like only his mother called his sister Nymphadora. He was sure that others had been warned about calling her given name.

Ted stepped in to hug Corvus. "Edward Tonks, though I'm more commonly known as Ted. You can call me anything you like." Corvus stiffened at the hug but relaxed when he realised it was friendly. Ted frowned at his son's reaction but said nothing.

The family reunion was interrupted by a scowling goblin which went by the name of Gornuk. "Now that you are finally done with the introductions, can we discuss the reason why I was brought here?" Gornuk was impatient. Time was gold and he had been kept waiting too long by the family.

Ted took charge of the conversation as he was the Head of the family. "Ah, there are two matters that we called you here for. Corvus wished to speak to you and I asked you to be here so we can open personal vault accounts for Dora and Corvus." The goblin grunted before looking at Corvus.

"What did you want to discuss with me?" The goblin asked in a hostile tone, wanting to get the affairs done as soon as possible.

Corvus shook his head. "Ted has already voiced what I was going to ask. I want to open a personal vault but seeing as my parents wish to open one for me, I see no reason to ask for another one." Gornuk nodded.

"Very well, this will all be done in a day's time after you finish filling out the forms. We can send the forms through owl post so you do not have to come to Gringotts." The goblin turned to Ted. "The fees will the same as usual."

"Of course. Deduct the money from my vault. Will the confirmation letters be sent to us as well?"

"Yes, yes. I'll be taking my leave. You can stay in here for however long you want. Congratulations on your reunion." The goblin bowed to the family before exiting the room.

Andromeda held her breath when Ted asked Corvus whether he still had free time.

"Oh... Tom's given me the day off so I still have plenty of time." When Tom heard that he was going to meet his family, he immediately ordered Corvus to leave the Leaky Cauldron after he finished serving the last few customers for the morning.

"How about you join us for brunch? We haven't eaten yet and we were thinking of going to a Muggle restaurant." Corvus wasn't too surprised about being invited to dine with his family. He had expected them to invite him, which is why he had forgone cooking his breakfast in the morning.

"That sounds great." Andromeda was pleased Corvus had accepted their invitation because she wanted more time with her son. She wanted to get to know about her son, and the urge to do so had increased after the short exchange between the two. She was interested in knowing where he learnt to act in such a Slytherin manner. Even she had taken years to cultivate the skill and she had been under the pressure of the Black family.

Ted was grateful Corvus hadn't declined the invitation. He hadn't been too sure on how he was going to handle his wife if he had declined. He hadn't been too worried about his daughter considering she already made arrangements with the boy to continue meeting with each other.

"Then shall we make our exit now? I'm famished from waking up so early." Dora patted her stomach. She had never gotten the chance to satiate her hunger last night. Her parents had been at it like rabbits for hours on end, and she eventually fell asleep in her room waiting for them to finish. Dora was amazed her stomach had not growled a single time during the meeting. It seemed both her mind and body had forgotten about her hunger because she was having so much fun interacting with her brother.

Seeing as how they had nothing else to be done in Gringotts, Corvus nodded his head in response Dora's question. "Yeah, let's go." The group exited Gringotts and made their way to the Leaky Cauldron where they would exit the wizarding world and enter the Muggle world.

Brunch at a small family restaurant was a long affair, Dora's stomach was like a black hole. She devoured the many dishes she ordered causing Ted to send pained looks at her way. His only consolation was that the restaurant served cheap food and nothing went above the price of five pounds. Dora was prohibited from ordering any more food by Andromeda with the reasoning of "ladies must always keep a good figure." However, it didn't stop Dora from stealing Corvus's food though he retaliated in kind. Corvus lost the battle to Dora, her metamorphmagus abilities aiding her food thievery.

The group spent two hours in the restaurant-a new record for the family since they often finished a meal within an hour-and Corvus had been about to split ways from the trio when Andromeda disapparated him back to their house. Corvus was absolutely livid with the unannounced abduction but had been too busy fending off his nausea which followed after side-along apparition. He was glad he hadn't puked his guts out because he rathered the food he had consumed stay inside of his body. If Corvus hadn't been so sick after being apparated, he would've loved to comment on how accurate Harry had been when he described apparition in the books.

When Ted began telling Andromeda off-something which didn't happen often-Dora dragged Corvus into her room to discuss his metamorphmagus abilities and why he should never attempt to transform his body without supervision. She warned him of the dangers of doing so. She related her experience of attempting a transformation without having enough information. "I first attempted to change my height when I was a second-year in Hogwarts. I had thought I was capable of doing so, but because my bones were too weak, and I was unable to change them back to their proper form, I could not move. I was forced to go Madam Pomfrey where I was told off for my foolishness."

"Madam Pomfrey fixed my bones and returned me to my proper height after explaining why the transformation failed. She told me to come back for lessons on the human body so that such incidents wouldn't occur again. Though I did still have my fair share of incidents, Madam Pomfrey often had me practising in her view so she could fix any injuries from happening." She reminisced about her experiences before continuing to speak. "I've learnt the spells necessary for fixing every injury that is possible from changing your body." She scratched her cheek. "I think I have, I'm not too sure. But I do have the book Madam Pomfrey gave me on healing spells." She pointed to a bookshelf in the room. "Because I have the experience and knowledge, you shouldn't have the same problems as I did with transforming. I had to self-experiment with everything, nobody could help me besides suggesting a few things, even Professor McGonagall." Corvus was slightly shocked at her daring. He was too scared to experiment with his abilities on such a scale.

Corvus asked his sister an important question which had her thinking. "Surely there must be books on our abilities? We inherited the ability from the Blacks, didn't we?" Luckily, Dora never questioned him on how he managed to gain such knowledge when she never mentioned their relation to the Blacks. And even if she did, Corvus would've answered her with "when mother introduced herself, she introduced herself as Andromeda Tonks née black. From there, it's obvious we probably inherited the ability from the Blacks since only they have the history of having metamorphmagi in their family."

Dora had contemplated Corvus's question and answered with a conjecture. "Mother once said there were books on metamorphmagi abilities but they were all hidden inside a vault she had no access to. Because of that, I guess I never really bothered looking for any other information on our abilities." She shrugged. "It's not like I needed the information anyway. I've still managed to use my ability to its possible limits." Corvus wasn't sure what the limits with metamorphmagi were, and he was left pondering for several days until he started his lessons with Dora.

After discussing their abilities, Dora moved onto asking Corvus about his likes, dislikes and which magical subject in Hogwarts seemed most interesting to him. Corvus talked about his likes and dislikes. He told Dora he was unable to decide which was the most interesting because he had yet to experience any of them, but if he had to choose, it would be transfiguration.

Dora was about to speak of her own interests when they heard somebody knocking at the door. She opened it to see her father. "It's about time Corvus returned to the Leaky Cauldron, its afternoon already and I think he'd like to spend his time elsewhere." Dora was about to protest but Ted sent her a look that forced her to swallow any objections. Corvus didn't notice the exchange and nodded to Ted.

"Sure, I'll see you when the lessons start. Bye, sis!" He waved goodbye and ran down the stairs. Andromeda was nowhere in sight.

Ted followed after Corvus at his own pace. "Have you used the Floo network before?"

"Nope." He hadn't needed to use any type of magical transportation because he could find everything he needed in Diagon Alley.

"Well, just simply take some Floo powder," he pushed the container over towards Corvus. "step into the fireplace and say Leaky Cauldron. Enunciate your words because you don't want to end up in an unknown place. Only step out when you see Tom, I've already informed him that you're coming. Tuck your elbows in, shut your eyes when you throw the powder and you'll be all set to go." Corvus looked unsure, he took a handful of the powder and walked closer toward the fireplace. "Just follow my instructions and you'll be fine."

Corvus knew he couldn't keep Tom waiting. He could feel the heat of the fire but it didn't seem to burn him as he threw the powder into the flames and said, "Leaky Cauldron." He immediately disappeared from the fireplace. Corvus felt himself spinning. He ignored the loud roaring in his ears and kept his eyes open. He stepped out of the fireplace once he saw a glimpse of Tom's face. Corvus landed on his feet. _'Well, that didn't seem too bad. I don't see why Harry had such a rough time with the Floo network.'_ He could see Tom moving back towards the bar counter. Corvus patted his clothes so no soot remained.

He entered the kitchen, Tom's protests for him to stop working went unheard as he reflected on the meeting. _'I'm glad I don't regret my decision to meet the family.'_ What Corvus didn't know was that the future had already changed the moment he woke up in his new body. He would curse his bad luck whenever he looked back on his life.


	8. Truth

Corvus sat on his bed, staring at his sister with a blank expression. "What do you mean I'll have to find my base form?" Corvus's first lesson with Dora had just begun.

She had been in the middle of explaining what they were going to be aiming for during the lesson when he interrupted her. "It is what it is. I will teach you how to change into your natural looks. Sometimes our metamorphmagus abilities unconsciously change our body to what you perceive to be your natural look. This means your body hides your true features."

She pointed to her bubblegum pink hair. "Watch." Her hair began to shorten until it only reached her chin, the pink hair faded into a soft brown. Corvus could now see her collarbone with ease. She began to shrink, stopping when she was at least half a head shorter. There were no other visible changes. "This is my natural look. I don't change much because I'm comfortable with the way I am."

She took out her wand and twirled it. "When I first discovered my natural form, I was horrified."

Corvus was confused. "Why would you be horrified by your own looks? You look perfectly fine to me." In fact, she was pretty beautiful.

Dora chuckled. "Well seeing your natural form is horrifying because you see your unaltered body." That still didn't explain anything to him. "Tell me, have you noticed your hair has stayed the same length? Have you ever needed to cut your hair?" Her questions had him thinking.

He was speechless when he thought about it. His hair had stayed the same length in the past month and no matter how slow hair grew, it would've still grown. Corvus shook his head. "No, I don't think I've ever seen my hair grow past this length." His eyes widened. "Wait, is this the reason why I'm so short?" Dora burst into his laughter. Of course, he would ask a question about his height.

"It most likely is. When I saw how short you were, I already had my suspicions. I didn't voice those suspicions in front of mum because she would have wanted to see what you really looked like. This would have taken a lot of explaining that I didn't want to do in front of her." She stopped twirling her wand. "And you can't forget your fingernails and toenails. Those will probably be a dreadful sight." She shuddered at the image. "They are probably so long and dirty that I don't want to see them. I'm pretty sure I fainted when I looked in the mirror." Corvus chuckled. "I'm going to cast a spell that will help you trim your nails. This way we won't have to be traumatised by the sight." She pointed her wand at him. Corvus waited for the incantation that never came. "All done!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Non-verbal spell-casting?"

Dora was surprised. "How do you know about that? I never heard about non-verbal spell-casting until my Sixth-year." Corvus shrugged.

"I heard some of the customers mentioning it."

'He's hiding something.' Dora narrowed her eyes in suspicion at his answer. "You're unexpectedly much smarter than I thought."

"How stupid did you think I was?"

She looked away. "Stupider than I am." Corvus glared.

"Seriously?"

"Very serious."

He sighed. "Carry on with your lesson plan." He gestured for her to continue.

Dora cleared her throat. "I'm not going to bother cutting your hair with a spell because the long hair is an indicator you've found your base form. I suspect your hair should be at least up to your butt." He would have his haircut as soon as possible. Long hair was not easy to take care of. Long hair took too much effort to care for and he much preferred shorter hair since it wouldn't get in his way.

"Now, I'm not even certain my plan will work but I'll explain it to you anyway." She changed her hair colour back to the bubblegum pink. "To hasten the process of finding your base form, I'll be transforming first, and you have to feel my magic as it courses through me when you are holding my hands." She was about to reach for his hands when she stopped suddenly. "Oh, do you have any stretchy or big clothes?" He shook his head. "I'll just transfigure your clothes into something suitable." Corvus's dismayed looked didn't last long. "Don't worry the transfiguration on your clothes isn't permanent."

She pointed her wand at his clothes, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He could feel his clothes changing into a different fabric. "There, hopefully, I got the material right. I've been practising my non-verbal spells because it is possible I'll get tested on it if I receive a reply to my application for the Auror programme." She placed her wand on top of the bed and held her hands out for Corvus to grab. Once Corvus grabbed onto her hands, she began explaining what he had to do.

"When I change, there should be a tingling sensation passing through your body. It should familiar to you because it is the same kind of magic inside you. It's what separates us metamorphmagi from normal wizards." She looked Corvus in the eyes. "Ready?"

He nodded.

She began transforming, and Corvus could feel the tingling sensation his sister mentioned. "Well? Did you feel the sensation?"

"Yeah, it feels... I don't know how to explain it, but the magic calls to me whenever I focus on the sensation." Dora nodded.

"It's the same for me. That's how you always know you are changing back into your base form. That tingling sensation is your magic identifying your base form for you. Now I'll repeat my transformation, try and remember as many changes as you can." Dora's clothes expanded in size as she grew taller. "Crap, I forgot to take off my shoes." She kicked her shoes off before continuing to transform. "Take your shoes off as well. It's possible your feet size may change." He followed his instructions, laying his shoes on the floor neatly before grasping his sister's hands again. "In three. Two. One." He noticed the way the magic moved from her head down to her feet. He could feel the magic shortening her hair. He could sense the magic changing her- feet smaller, legs shorter and body thinner. "Did you get that?"

"Yeah. I think I've got remembered how it feels."

"Good, now that you've remembered how the magic feels. It's time for you to change into your base form. Close your eyes, it should help if you don't get caught up by the way you look. Use your mind to send the magic from the very top of your head to the very bottom of your feet." He did as she instructed, feeling the magic flow through his body in a single second. Corvus could now feel the weight of his hair-he had never thought hair could be this heavy. He could feel his hair tickling the back of his legs. Several strands of hair irritated his nose, making him wrinkle his nose.

Corvus could feel many things about his body but he wanted to know what he now looked like. He opened his eyes knowing he had shifted into his base form because the tingling sensation could no longer be felt. He spotted his sister grinning at him. "Wonderful! On your very first attempt too! You don't know how long I spent on trying to shift into my base form." She conjured a full-body length mirror for him to admire his changes. "You don't look half-bad though I wouldn't date you even if you were older."

"Why's that?" He asked, spinning around so he could see all the changes to his body. He had gotten taller, he was certain of that much though not by much. He estimated his height to be around about 150cm. He ogled his fingers-no longer pudgy and short, they were now long and slender, though they weren't as long as Dora's. His hair was the same hue as Dora's.

"Well, you look like dad. I don't think I want to date someone looking like my own father, and you are my brother. That'd be incest." She shuddered. Corvus knew she had a point. He wouldn't want to commit incest either.

"Do I really look like him?" She nodded vigorously.

"Definitely. You look like he did when he was a child. I've seen the pictures." Corvus hummed. "Don't be sad, dad looks respectable. I mean even if you look like his duplicate, you still have your metamorphmagus abilities." She reminded him.

"True." He didn't dislike his looks and that was enough for him. "How frightened do you think he would be if he saw me after I cut my hair?"

"Terrified. He'd be sent screaming. And mum would walk up to you shaking her head in exasperation. She'd be like 'Ted, did you drink a de-ageing potion? I thought you were smarter than that.' or something along those lines." She threw a pair of slippers at his head. "Here put these on, I've transfigured them into slippers so you don't have to worry about your feet being too big. We're going to get your hair cut this instant. I want to bring you home to mum and dad so I can see the shocked looks on their faces."

"Dora, I'm tired. Can't we do this another day?" He looked away from her face when she gave him the puppy eyes. She pulled off the look excellently through the use of her abilities to give her features of an actual dog.

"Please?" She moved to where he was looking.

"No. I'm going to bed. Please leave the room and shut the door behind you." Her pleading face wasn't enough for him to change his mind.

After a few more minutes of giving Corvus, Dora was close to begging him verbally but she gave up trying to convince him because she didn't want to give him any blackmail material. "I'll see you on Wednesday. You'll be coming over to the house then. No buts." The loud crack following her disappearance, had him turning in. Corvus had a fitful rest.

-Line Break-

Wednesday came far too quickly for Corvus's liking. Corvus was glad the number of patrons in the last few days had decreased to the point he was no longer feeling half-dead when he began his shift at Flourish and Blotts. He was uncomfortable the entire day because his sister had felt the need to watch him so he wouldn't be able to run away. If it wasn't for Dora changing looks constantly to attract his attention, he wouldn't have noticed her stalking at him at all. He could see how his sister-in the future- would manage to earn top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training.

After finishing his day's work-he had barely been able to finish saying farewell to Mr Blotts-Dora had immediately grabbed ahold of his hand and Disapparated from the store to her room in the Tonks household. It took Corvus a minute to gain his bearings. He said nothing about Dora's stalking because he admitted he would've run away the first chance he got. "Isn't it rude to apparate into somebody's house suddenly?" He asked.

"Don't worry, I apparate into my room all the time, mum's already used to it. Plus, the house is warded so only people who have been let into the ward scheme can enter. Of course, somebody could break the wards but that'd take a long time." She explained as she began pushing him out of her room.

"Dora, I can't meet them like this!" He stopped her from pushing him out her bedroom door.

"Like what?" He looked perfectly fine to her. She began circling Corvus like a hawk-he swore she purposely turned her eyes into a hawk's. She couldn't see what was stopping him from walking downstairs to show off his new look.

"I haven't cut my hair yet!" Weren't we supposed to"-he gestured to his entire body-"you know, surprise mum and dad?" Corvus hadn't been sure when he had started referring to Ted as his father, but the change had occurred and Corvus was glad he finally accepted the Tonks family as his own family.

Dora pursed her lips in thought. "I forgot about that. I was just so... enthusiastic about pranking mum and dad that I forgot you haven't cut your hair."

"I noticed your enthusiasm. It was pretty obvious when you stalked me the entire day with your hair changing to neon colours." His dry tone causing Dora to laugh nervously.

"You know I didn't mean for you to notice me but because I wasn't keeping my emotions under control, my hair decided to have its own mind."

"Whatever." He threw himself onto her bed. "Well? What are we going to do? Are we still going to prank our parents or are we calling it off?" He asked.

Dora stomped her feet. "No, we aren't calling it off. Luckily for us, I've got a backup plan." She grabbed ahold of his hands again.

"Wait! Please don't tell me we're Apparating again."

"Why not?"

Corvus narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Have you ever tried side-along Apparition without being the one to control where we're going?"

"Nope, I've heard people get sick from it."

"If you've heard that much, then you should know why I don't want us to go anywhere so soon after we arrived here by Apparition." Tonks bit her lip.

"Then how are we going to cut your hair?" She really wanted her prank to work. "I'm no good at cutting hair. I've never had the need to!" She gestured to her hair which changed in length. "And mum's always been the one to do my hair in my base for me."

Corvus looked at his sister like she was dumb. "Isn't there a spell for cutting a person's hair? I'm pretty sure you said something about it on Monday when you cut my fingernails and toenails before I changed into my base form."

Dora's mouth widened into an O-shape. "You're right! I can't believe I forgot about that." Her wand appeared in her hand-and seeing her brother's questioning look, she explained how the wand had gone unnoticed. "I keep my wand in a holster so I can summon it into my hand at a moment's notice." Corvus grinned at her explanation. He was unsure how he was going to keep his future wand on his person without placing it in an uncomfortable spot.

She retrieved a book from her the shelf, flipping through the pages before stopping when she found what she wanted. "Now, keep still. I don't want the spell to hit any other places on your body besides the top of your head." Once he was still, Dora took a deep breath. "Let's hope I get this right on the first try." Corvus closed his eyes expecting to feel the spell working its magic on his hair but it never came. "Hey, you can open your eyes now. What do you think?" She once again showed off her non-verbal spell casting by conjuring a hand-held mirror. Corvus was impressed at how easy it was for her to pull off non-verbal spells constantly. Many wizards and witches seemed to vocalise most of the spells and he didn't know why.

He stared at his short hair. "I look pretty good but I can't tell you whether we can fool mum."

"Pish posh, I'm sure it'll work. Let's go downstairs now before dad comes home. He should still be at work at this time." She dragged him down the staircase. They could see Andromeda reading a book whilst reclining on an armchair in the living room. She pulled Corvus close and whispered. "Okay, here's the plan. You go sit on the arm of the chair and kiss mum on the cheek."

Corvus pulled away in disgust. "What?! No! That's gross."

"Quiet down, she'll hear us and this will all be for nothing. Now go and begin. Just improvise. I'll be watching from here." She sent him stumbling into the living room with a push. She held her thumb up, mouthing 'I believe in you. Good luck!"

He looked back at her in horror for a few more seconds before looking over to where his mother was sitting. He rolled his shoulders back and glided his way towards the chair. Corvus followed Dora's instructions-grimacing when his lips made contact with his mother's cheek.

"It's nice to be given so much love from my son, even if you were planning to prank me." Andromeda turned a page in her book, not looking at Corvus as she spoke. "The next time you want to try something like this, try not to plan in earshot of the person you wish to play the prank on." Andromeda put the book down to the side. "You can come out now, Nymphadora. You should know better. I've been busting you for your pranks for years. It's not hard to know something is up when I can hear so much noise coming from your room."

Groans could be heard from the staircase as Dora stomped into the living room with a dejected expression on your face. "It's no fun when you know about everything that happens in the house." She slumped against the sofa. "It's like you're some kind of omniscient being."

Andromeda laughed at the comment. "I guess it does seem like I'm a clairvoyant, but no, I am not a clairvoyant. Mothers just have this feeling when their children are up to mischief. Trust me Nymphadora, you'll feel the same way when you have your own children."

"I don't want to think about marriage or children. I haven't even gotten a job yet, mum!"

"I married your father right when we-"

Corvus glanced at his mother, wondering why she had stopped speaking suddenly. He noticed her mouth still moving but no sound could be heard. Andromeda's eyes narrowed.

"I don't want to hear about when you married dad! I've heard about it so many times." Andromeda's wand was in her hand the moment she realised she had been hit with a silencing charm.

"There was no need to silence me so rudely." She said, beginning to lecture Dora on what she should've done. "You could have just asked me to stop politely."

Dora shot an unimpressed look at their mother. "Seriously? You always continue even when I tell you to stop."

"That's because I'm always talking about an important subject when you ask me to stop. You have to know some of these things."

Corvus's ignored the heated argument he was sure that would erupt between the two. He was sent into deep thoughts when he heard his mother mentioning Dora's future children. He clenched his fist, knowing that his sister wouldn't be alive to see her children grow up if he didn't do anything. 'I know I told myself I wouldn't mess with future events, but I can hardly just leave my sister to die when I could save her and her husband. I can't let my future nephew grow up without his parents.' If he was going to change the future, then he would do so in a way that everyone he loved would survive. 'Some events must occur otherwise the entire timeline will go to shit.' He wouldn't be able to save his sister if the timeline changed too much. He wasn't even sure whether the timeline was still the same. Corvus could only confirm whether the universe was the one he knew when he arrived at Hogwarts.

A loud banging noise jolted Corvus out of his contemplating. He scanned the living room to see a pile of books on top of a table. His mother was no longer in the living room. Corvus glanced at his sister. "You okay?"

"Yeah, it wasn't even much of an argument because we have it so often that we just stop half-way." She pulled a strand of hair out of her way, tucking it behind her ear. "These are the books I want you to read before our next lesson." Corvus was perturbed with his sister's expectations.

"You do remember I have to work right? I can't read all of these books in less than a week!" He took a peek at the titles. He picked up one of the books. "Like, look at this book! 'Bones of the human body'. Most of these books are on human anatomy. I don't think I'd be able to digest so much information in such a short period of time."

"I don't expect you to finish reading everything. I just want you to begin reading the books." She pointed at the notes stuck on the front of each book. "I've put a number on each book. Start from the first book and finish with the last book. If you really want to master your metamorphmagus abilities, then you'd better be willing to put in the effort to do so." She disapparated to her room to retrieve a trunk for the books. "Don't rush through the books. I want you to understand all the information contained in these books. I'll also be giving you monthly assignments to test your knowledge. Oh, don't look so worried. They won't be anything hard." Corvus sincerely doubted she was telling the truth.

"From next week onwards, our lessons will be taking place here. Because we're attempting transformations, it'll be good to have mum here, just in case I'm not able to heal any injuries." She waved her wand to sort all the books into the trunk, shouting "Pack!" as she did so. The books all flew into the trunk haphazardly. She scratched her head. "How does mum get her spells to be so accurate?" She let out a sigh. "Mum won't teach me the spell she uses to pack things. I've experimented on my own but as you can see, it isn't very effective." Dora moved towards the trunk and took out the books one by one so she could sort them into the trunk manually. "I'll cast a Feather-Light charm on the trunk so you don't have to worry about the weight." After a few minutes, she pushed the trunk over to Corvos. "Now you're all set to go."

Just as Corvus was about to leave, Andromeda walked out with Ted from the kitchen-Corvus wondered when his father had arrived home. He should've noticed his father returning home from work. "Don't leave just yet, Corvus, Nymphadora," Andromeda called out to the two, glancing at both of them as she did. "I have something to say to the both of you." She pointed to the two armchairs "Sit." They did as she ordered, Andromeda and Ted sat on the sofa opposite them.

"It's time we told you the truth on why we thought Corvus was dead." Ted rubbed his wife's knee, nodding for her to continue when she hesitated. Dora and Corvus stared at their parents-both wondering about why their mother chose this moment to reveal the truth. "We decided it would be best if both of you were informed about what happened because Corvus is due to receive his Hogwarts acceptance letter tomorrow."

"What? I"m eleven years old this year?" He uttered out of shock. Corvus knew he would be going to Hogwarts but never this soon. He hadn't expected to be in the same year as Harry Potter.

Ted nodded solemnly. "Yes, you're turning eleven on July 31st actually. Both Dromeda and I were afraid that you didn't know your birthday." Why would Corvus have known about his birthday? Nobody had informed him about it until now. He wasn't too surprised about not knowing his birthday since this wasn't his original body. No, he was more shocked about his birthday being on the same day as Harry's.

'At least my birthday will be easy to remember.' He remarked in his mind. 'I can't believe my birthday hasn't changed at all.' He was slightly upset with the sudden announcement but was glad he was told about it before he actually received his letter. He was certain he would've fainted from shock when the letter arrived.

"The acceptance letters are always sent on the same date, July 24th." Andromeda picked up from where Ted left off. "Which is why this is the best time to tell you about the past." Dora was confused about why she hadn't been told earlier. She was bewildered about why she didn't remember Corvus until her mother showed her the letter from Gornuk. Surely she had been old enough to remember her own brother and the day of devastating loss? Nothing was making sense for her but she withheld questioning her parents since they hadn't begun explaining things yet.

"On 10th October 1981, Corvus was set to have a playdate with my sister's son, Draco ." She smiled bitterly. "My sister and I still had good relationships with each other. Unlike our sister Bellaxtrix, we were still conversing with each other on a weekly basis. At the time, it had been a good idea for Corvus to spend some time with somebody his own age because there weren't many people I could trust at the time. Voldemort was still at large, and even with her husband being a suspected Death Eater, I still trusted Narcissa to keep the conflict away from our children."

"I left you with Draco and Narcissa because while you were having a playdate, I was busy working as a healer." She sighed. "The Malfoy Manor was 'raided' by Death Eaters. I don't know much else about what happened during the raid because I can only go on what Narcissa told me, and she had been unconscious for the majority of the attack, being stunned and all." She glanced at Ted with an imploring look for him to relate the rest of the story.

"Even until this day, both your mother and I are still unsure why the Malfoy Manor was attacked,"-Corvus already had a few conjectures forming in his mind-"but the only casualties suffered from the attack were a few of their house elves being killed," Ted looked at Corvus. "and you. We were shown your body. Your eyes were closed, a blissful smile was on your face because you were apparently sleeping during the attack. You died without even knowing how you died."

Dora's quiet voice could be heard. "Was it the killing curse?"

Ted nodded. "Nobody ever survived the killing curse, except for one person."

"Harry Potter." Dora and Corvus muttered the name at the same time.

"It was why I was sure of your death, and why we were so shocked about hearing from Gornuk. Your mother refused to accept your death though. She contacted Gornuk to sign a contract for her to be notified if there were any signs of you being alive. But in the past nine years? We received nothing." He laughed humourlessly. "You don't know how astonishing it was to find out your mother's denial proving to be useful in the end."

Andromeda took over the conversation, speaking in a bitter tone. "I resented Harry Potter when news of his miraculous survival was made known to the public. I asked myself 'why didn't my baby boy live instead? Why couldn't he have been the one to survive the killing curse?' My resented faded after I realised it was unfair to him. He had ended the tyranny of a Dark Lord, bringing peace to the wizarding world. He ended the Dark Lord, but he lost his parents in the process." She looked at her hands. "But we weren't the only ones to lose people that day."

Corvus knew who she was talking about. It was one of his favourite characters from the series after all. "Nevile Longbottom. I find his loss more tragic than Harry Potter's." He looked at his mother. Why would she think Neville's loss was worse than Harry's?

"To know your parents are alive, but unresponding. To be able to see them yet be unable to truly interact with them. It's the worst pain you can inflict on a child. Death of your loved ones? People eventually move on from grieving. But for young Neville, I pray for his parents to recover." She closed her eyes. "Corvus, I want you to be friends with Neville. He will be in the same year as you. Merlin knows how much the boy's been traumatised by his grandmother already."

Corvus nodded. "You can count on me." He had already been planning to be Neville's friend. He wanted Neville to stop being shy and become the courageous boy he had read about in the books.

Dora decided to ask the questions she had been meaning to ask. Her parents hadn't given her the answer she wanted during the explanation. "Mother," Andromeda turned her attention to Dora-Dora only called her mother when she had something important to say. "why don't I remember any of this? Why didn't I know I had a brother until we received the letter from Gornuk?" Her voice was rising each time she questioned Andromeda. "I was old enough to remember all of this. I remember nearly everything that's happened since I was five years old. So please," Dora pleaded her mother. "please, tell me why I don't remember anything."

Ted and Andromeda sent each other knowing looks. They had expected their daughter to question her lack of memories concerning Corvus. Ted was the one to answer Dora. "We used a memory charm on me."

"You removed my memories?" Dora screamed.

"It was necessary. You were traumatised by his death, you hadn't been eating or leaving your room unless we forced you." Andromeda spoke up. "I was the one who cast the charms. Ted was never one for charms."

"What memory charm did you use?" Dora demanded.

"The Forgetfulness charm." Andromeda and Ted were looking pained from revealing everything.

Dora stood up. "I'm..." she hesitated. "I'm going out. I need time to think." She disapparated from the house. Andromeda stared at the spot where Dora disappeared from.

"I'll be going back to the Leaky Cauldron. I need some time to take this in." He spoke up a minute after Dora had left. He wasn't joking when he said he needed time. He had been given quite a lot of information that had him thinking. He had so many theories on why he was attacked but he knew better than to reveal such sensitive knowledge.

Andromeda nodded weakly. "You'll be coming back, right?"

Corvus nodded. "Don't worry. I'll be here tomorrow. I need money to buy whatever I need for Hogwarts. I don't think my savings will be enough. My pay isn't much." He approached the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo powder and left the house.

"Do you think we did the right thing telling them all of this?"

"Dromeda, Corvus was eventually going to question his 'death'. We also promised we wouldn't keep secrets from our children. I'm not sure if Dora will forgive us for deciding to modify her memory but it was the only thing we could do at the time." He turned off the lights. "Just give them time."

"All right." She agreed to the matter rest. "By the way, what should we do for Corvus's birthday? We only ever celebrated it once."

"It's up to you. It can also be a celebration for his acceptance to Hogwarts."

"That's true. I'm going to plan a small party between us. I can only hope the party will help them forget about this." She laid on Ted's chest as he reclined on the sofa.

"I hope so too." He fell asleep holding onto Andromeda.

-Line Break-

Nick closed his eyes-too much was on his mind for him to fall asleep. He didn't know when he did fall asleep but the last question he remembered asking himself was 'how did my parents defy Voldemort three times?'

 **-Author's note-**

 **This chapter was inspired by a scene in a Harry Potter metamorphmagus fanfic named 'Morphed Secrets'**


	9. Harry's Arrival

July 31st 1991. Corvus had been waiting for this day to arrive. Why would he be waiting for this day? There were two reasons for this. The first reason? It was his birthday today. His parents had planned a celebration party to commemorate the age where he would begin learning magic, it was also to commemorate their family reunion and his acceptance to Hogwarts. The second reason? Harry Potter would be finally entering the wizarding world and he would be there to see it.

Corvus had been holding off on buying the last few items on his list for Hogwarts. His books were the easiest items on his list, he did work at Flourish and Blotts after all. He finished buying all the potions ingredients, cauldrons and all the equipment listed in his letter. His pointed hat and gloves were bought too. All he had left to buy was his wand and school uniform. Madam Malkin's and Ollivanders would be one of the best times for him to influence Harry's view on the wizarding world. Corvus didn't like Dumbledore's subtle manipulations. Harry would've been able to avoid so many situations if he was just better informed.

He had just finished plating his last order when he heard the Leaky Cauldron fall silent. It was strange for a pub which usually bustled with conversation. He held the plate of food and moved towards the front of the pub, his ears catching snippets of a conversation as he left the kitchen. "Can this be -?" He heard Tom gasp

"... what an honour." Corvus realised what was happening. Harry had arrived. He waited a few more seconds after hearing the chairs scraping across the floor before he decided to interrupt the scene.

"Leave him alone. Can't you see he's confused? He doesn't know why all of you are clamouring to shake his hands. Back. Off." He spoke in an authoritative tone, causing many of the patrons to step away from where they were standing-many of them were regulars and knew not to argue with him. Corvus could now see Harry with his own two eyes. "Tom, you know better than to surprise someone suddenly. Imagine if his accidental magic acted up?" He scolded his boss.

Tom had a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry about that Corvus, I must have lost my wits for a moment."

"As long as it doesn't happen again."

-Line Break-

Harry stopped breathing when he saw all the adults cease moving after a boyish voice commanded them to do so. When some of the adults parted way, he was able to see the person who was speaking. He saw a boy with brown hair, with crimson streaks highlighting the soft bed of short hair. His eyes widened when he saw the crimson streaks disappear before his very eyes. They had turned brown.

He watched as the boy scold Tom- the man who had spoken to Hagrid. It was an absolute shock for him to see someone other than Dudley scolding an adult. Harry was surprised by the boy's hazel eyes softening when his eyes met his own. The look didn't last very long, the boy's gaze being pulled away as he noticed Hagrid.

"Hello, Hagrid. Going to Diagon Alley?" Harry was impressed with how many people seemed to recognise Hagrid with a glance-not that it was very surprising considering Hagrid's stature.

"Yes I am, I'm takin' Harry 'ere to get his Hogwarts supplies." Harry noticed all the other customers go back to their seats and return to what they were doing before. Harry was glad that all the attention was no longer on him. He was unused to being in the spotlight after years of being neglected by his relatives.

Harry watched as the boy tap his chin with his index finger. It made the boy look very... cute? Harry was unsure why he thought the boy looked cute when all he was doing was tapping his chin.

"Mind if I tag along, Hagrid? I still need to get my wand and robes, I've already bought everything else." Harry stayed silent as Hagrid and the boy spoke.

"Sure!" Hagrid grinned at Harry. "Harry 'ere will need a friend when he goes ta Hogwarts." The giant of a man paused. "Yeh didn't tell me yer was goin' to Hogwarts!" Hagrid sounded surprised.

He watched the boy give a wry smile. "I only knew about it when I received a letter informing me about my acceptance to Hogwarts."

"But yeh look like a wee midget" Hagrid held his fingers up to emphasize. "Sure yeh grew quite a bit since we last met, but yeh still look like a titchy thing. Yeh smaller than Harry and he's the same age!" Harry shifted underneath the boy's gaze as he scrutinised him.

"I think you're exaggerating. We're about the same size." The boy stepped forward and grabbed ahold of Harry's arm. "Look! His hair is making you think I'm shorter than him."

"All righ', all righ'. Yer not smaller than Harry. Are yeh sure Tom will allow yeh to leave?"

The boy, Corvus-Harry remembered the man who spoke to Hagrid mentioning his name-rolled his eyes, turned around and yelled. "Oi Tom, I'll be taking a break from my shift! I already finished the last order for the morning, mind helping me clean the dishes?"

Tom answered Corvus quickly. "Sure go ahead! I can handle everything from here." Once Corvus received a reply, he turned back to Hagrid.

"You see? He doesn't mind."

Hagrid nodded. "Let's go then."

Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where several plants were being grown. There was a trash can next to the wall.

"Huh, it's been a long time since I seen this place so cleaned up," Hagrid commented. "Nick, were you the one which cleaned everything? I doubt ol' Tom would ever put in effort into cleaning this place, even with magic."

Harry was confused. He didn't understand why Hagrid called Corvus a different name.

"I go by Corvus Tonks now, Hagrid." He looked at Harry and added, "I recently found out my family was still alive." Harry nodded. That made sense to him. He was afraid he would have to remember multiple names for the same person. Corvus held out his hand. "I forgot to introduce myself. Name's Corvus Tonks."

Harry shook the offered hand. "Harry Potter, somewhat famous wizard...?" He trailed off questioningly, looking at Hagrid.

"Very famous, Harry. I would be surprised if somebody didn' know yer name. I suspec' lots of ladies coming for yeh." The thought of everybody knowing who he was made him queasy. He was too used to slinking away the spotlight to think about using his fame to his advantage.

Harry couldn't stop himself from asking.

"How did your hair change colour? I noticed a few strands of hair being red in colour earlier before it changed to brown."

Corvus pointed at his hair.

"You mean this?" Corvus's hair turned from brown to completely black. "I'm a metamorphmagus. Changing my hair colour is part of my abilities."

Hagrid looked impressed. "Metamorphmagi are very rare. The only other person I've met with the same ability is his sister."

Harry was amazed. "What else can you do?"

"Well, not very much. I've only just started to learn how to use my abilities." He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I can do this much though." He watched as Corvus's eyes became the same shape and colour as his. He saw the boy's hair lengthening, his hair now just as messy as his own. He watched the boy's face take on the features he was used to seeing in the mirror. "This is the best I can do for now."

Harry brushed apart his messy locks from his forehead. "Do you have the scar too?"

Corvus shook his head. "I can't do scars yet. My sister hasn't been teaching me long enough." Harry watched as the boy transformed back into his original appearance. "I'm hoping I can reach the same mastery as my sister. She can transform her entire body to look like yours if she wanted to."

The more Harry heard about magic the more he wanted to learn about it. He questioned why Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would want to stamp the 'freakishness' out of him. Magic was awesome! They were so many things you could do with it. He was fascinated by Corvus ability to change his appearance but he was too shy to ask Corvus to continue demonstrating.

In the end, Harry could only continue to watch the boy discreetly, just in case he used his ability again.

Corvus never noticed the inner turmoil inside of Harry because he was too busy with his own thoughts to be very observant of his surroundings.

Whilst the two boys were in deep thought, Hagrid was counting bricks the bricks in the wall above the trash can. "Three up... two across," Hagrid muttered, looking behind to see the boys standing away from the wall. "Harry, look over 'ere." He called out to Harry, wanting him to show him just how wonderful magic was.

Once Hagrid had Harry's attention, he used the point of his umbrella to tap the wall three times.

The brick his umbrella touched began quivering before Harry's eyes. The brick began shifting-a hole appeared in the middle of the wall-it grew wider and wider-a second later he was facing an archway large enough for Hagrid to pass through, an archway that led to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of his sight. Harry saw Hagrid looking at him with fond eyes-making him turn away in embarrassment-he hadn't wanted his reactions being seen.

"Don' be shy, Harry!" Hagrid and Corvus were already past the archway when Hagrid called out to him. Harry saw the archway shrinking and sprinted through, looking back at a solid wall once he was through. "Welcome," Hagrid said, "to Diagon Alley."

Aware of the sunlight warming his body, Harry glanced around and spotted a stack of cauldrons-gleaming from the sun's rays-outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.

"You'll be needin' one of those," said Hagrid. "I'm sure Corvus here would help explain the uses of the different types of cauldrons later, but we gotta get yer money first before we begin purchasin' anything."

Harry turned his head around in every direction as he followed behind Hagrid. He tried to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. Harry paused in his exploration of the Alley, glancing at Corvus who was walking beside him. The boy didn't seem to mind Harry. He wasn't like Dudley and his gang. Harry wished the boy was his friend. He hoped Corvus could be his very first friend that wouldn't be taken away by anybody. But Harry knew better than to hope, for his time with his relatives had crushed his hopes and dreams-his naiveness towards relationships along with it. No, Harry decided he would not ask the boy for a hand in friendship. He would wait for the boy to offer his friendship himself. 'But Harry,' his mind whispered, 'you already shook his hand of offered friendship.' Harry shook his head at his inner voice. 'He never said anything about being his friend if I shook his hand.' Harry's inner voice sighed at Harry's stubbornness. He was refusing to accept the fact he already had a friend.

Harry's musings were interrupted by Hagrid. "Gringotts. As I said, there isn't any other place safer than the bank other than Hogwarts."

They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops.

"I'm sure there are other places just as safe as Gringotts and Hogwarts, Hagrid. I've even read about them." Harry heard Corvus protesting. "What about Durmstrang and Beauxbatons? Nobody knows where the schools truly are. Surely that's considered to be a line of security."

Hagrid seemed unsure of what to say as Corvus listed off two unfamiliar names. "Nick." The boy glared at Hagrid. "Righ', Corvus. I'm not too sure about any places outside of Britain, but here, Gringotts and Hogwarts are the safest places to keep anything."

Harry watched the boy pout at the unsatisfactory answer. He decided to ask about the two places Corvus mentioned. "What's Durmstrang and Beauxbatons?"

"They're the two other magical schools in Europe," Corvus answered. Hagrid was listening to Corvus as well, though he budged them along to the side when he noticed they were blocking the way of other people. "Durmstrang Institute is somewhere in Northern Europe and Beauxbatons Academy is in France. They aren't the only magical schools in the world. There are eleven long-established and prestigious magical schools worldwide. I can only name seven of them." Corvus held up three fingers. "Hogwarts, Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons being three of them." He held up his other hand with his thumb down. "The other four I can remember are Castelobuxo, Ilvermony, Mahoutokoro, and Uagadou. They are based in Brazil, North America, Japan, and Uganda in the respective order I just named them in."

Both Hagrid and Harry were staring at Corvus with amazement. "Blimey, how do yeh know so much? I think yer gonna get the best grades at Hogwarts."

Corvus blushed at the praise. "I read a lot of books. Geography is just one of my favourite subjects. It's amazing just how much wizards and witches don't care about anything outside of Europe or even Britain. And I doubt I'm going to get the best grades at Hogwarts. I haven't started reading the books I bought yet." Harry was intimidated by the amount of information Corvus knew. He was already anxious about just how much further ahead his peers would be in Hogwarts.

"Everybody is on the same starting line when they go to Hogwarts. Sure, some have better theoretical knowledge because they bothered to memorise the books, but nobody will have the experience when it comes to practicals."-Corvus paused-"maybe they'll have a little bit of experience concerning potions but it won't be much, seeing just how difficult the subject is." Corvus explained to Harry when he noticed how anxious he was. Corvus could guess what was going through Harry's mind pretty easily, and he was glad Harry relaxed.

"If yeh say so. Let's head in ter Gringotts." Hagrid began climbing the staircase. Standing beside Gringott's burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was-

"Yeah, that's a goblin, Harry," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry.

Corvus whispered to Harry. "Could you imagine that I was just as short as the goblins just two weeks ago?"

"Not really, you're just as tall as I am. How'd you grow so quickly?" Harry whispered back. He was self-conscious about his height. The malnourishment from his time with the Dursleys had contributed to his short height. He wanted to be average in height so he wouldn't be as noticeable.

"My ability was hiding the more true appearance because I had been unconsciously made changes to my own body. My hair never seemed to grow, I was always the same height. When I met my sister, she realised what the problem was and helped me to correct it," Corvus explained.

"You keep mentioning how you only found out you had family a while ago, why is that?" Harry couldn't help his curiosity getting the better of him. Corvus had been answering his questions without complaint and Harry never had the chance to ask his questions without being teased. Though it seemed like he had gone too far with the question, he saw Corvus biting his lip as if he didn't want to answer. "You don't need to answer." Harry apologised, scratching his head in embarrassment. "The words just..." He trailed off.

"Spilled out as if you had no control over them?" Corvus finished. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I didn't mean to pry." Harry really didn't want Corvus hating him, he had never been given the chance to hold a conversation with another person without worrying about the consequences.

"It's fine. I just feel uncomfortable talking about the subject." Harry knew all about uncomfortable questions. Harry watched the goblin bow as they walked inside the bank. He was surprised when Corvus bowed back to the goblin, and was about to ask him why he did so until they stopped in front of another pair of doors, made of silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there.

"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors. Once again, Corvus bowed to the pair of goblins and Harry followed suit because it seemed appropriate to do so.

The goblin guards inclined their heads, giving a slight nod to the pair as they entered a marble hall.

Harry saw a pleased look on Corvus's face.

"It's smart to be respectful to the goblins. Their race controls the economy of the wizarding world here in Britain. They are prideful warriors who have been looked down upon by wizards and witches for centuries. Showing a little respect and goodwill towards the goblins will earn you their favour." Harry nodded. He didn't see why he shouldn't respect them. As long as the goblins didn't offend him, then there would be no reason for him to not continue treating them with respect.

Harry looked around the hall to see hundreds of goblins working. From scribbling on what parchment to examining precious stones with eyeglasses, all the goblins inside of the hall were working different jobs. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall. Harry saw even more goblins leading people in and out of the doors.

Harry dragged his attention to Hagrid when he led them to a counter. "Morning," greeted Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money out of Mr Harry Potter's safe." Hagrid half-turned so he could see Corvus. "Corvus, do you need to get some money as well?" asked Hagrid.

"Nope," Corvus shook his head. "I've got all the money I need right here." He patted his pocket.

Hagrid nodded his head. Hagrid emptied his pockets onto the counter. The goblin wrinkled its nose when the contents of his pockets scattered over its book of numbers. Harry looked at Corvus who was attempting to stifle his laughter. Confused, Harry leaned in so he could whisper. "What's so funny?"

"Goblins love cleanliness. What Hagrid did was really rude, but the goblin can't show his annoyance. I'm just laughing at the thought of a goblin trying to attack Hagrid." Harry tried to picture the image and snorted when he realised how ridiculous it looked.

"You're right, it is funny."

"Got it," Hagrid said at last, fishing a tiny golden key out of his pocket. The goblin examined the key closely.

"That seems to be in order. If that's all you need then we'll be making our way to his vault."

Hagrid took out a letter from his pocket at the reminder. "Nearly forgot about this. It's a letter from Professor Dumbledore." He passed the letter to the goblin. "It's about the You-know-what in Vault seven hundred and thirteen."

The goblin read the letter carefully.

"Very well," he said, handing the letter back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"

Griphook was another goblin-Harry wasn't very surprised at this point. The bank was supposed to be run by goblins after all.

Once Hagrid crammed all the things he had spilt out onto the desk back into his pockets, they followed Griphook towards one of the doors leading off the hall. "Hagrid, what's in Vault seven hundred and thirteen?" asked Corvus.

"Can't tell yeh that," Hagrid said mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

Harry was curious about all the secrecy behind Vault seven hundred and thirteen, and he silently snickered at Hagrid attempting to keep it all on the down low from them. Harry could see Hagrid was the wrong person for a job like. His honesty made him very liable to leaking information by accident. Harry noticed Corvus no longer spoke.

Griphook held open the door for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. Even Corvus was whistling at the sight. "That's a long way down. Just how far does Gringotts extend underground?"

Their goblin guide smirked. "That's a goblin secret."

Harry found themselves in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. Corvus looked at the cart with suspicion. "Are you sure this will hold all of us?"

The goblin grunted. "Of course it will. Don't doubt goblins." Corvus still looked suspicious but climbed into the cart anyway. Hagrid had difficulties climbing in due to his large stature. The goblin smirked. "Better hold on, you might just... fall off if you don't." Both Harry and Corvus heeded his words of caution and grabbed on to the sides of the cart and they were very glad they did so as the cart began moving.

At first they were hurtling through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember the directions the cart took but quickly found it impossible to keep track of where the rattling cart was taking them.

Harry stared at Griphook disbelievingly because he wasn't steering the cart. The cart had its own mind. He didn't know what to think of that.

Harry's and Corvus's eyes stun as the cold air rushed past them, but they both kept them wide open.

Harry glanced beside him and saw Corvus looking around admiringly. "I'd have thought you'd be used to thing such as this by now. You've been in the wizarding world for quite a while now right?" Harry asked, shouting so he could be heard over the whistling wind.

"It's been nearly two months since I learned of the wizarding world, Harry. Even in those two months, I haven't seen everything they have to offer. I've been to Gringotts several times, but I've never had the need to go down to a vault, so this is all new to me!" Corvus yelled back. Harry could see what Corvus was getting at, the more Harry did see, the more he wondered what else the magical world could surprise him with. Harry heard Corvus shouting again but he didn't catch anything he said.

"Don't ask me any questions! I'm feeling a bit sick over 'ere." He heard Hagrid saying. Harry glanced behind him. He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and leaned against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.

Griphook held his hand out. "Key!" Hagrid handed over the key to the goblin. The goblin unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and when it cleared, Harry gasped. Standing beside him, Corvus was just as dumbfounded by the sight. "My eyes are going blind." Harry knew how Corvus felt. He was trying to shield his own eyes from the glint that came from his vault. Inside his vault were mounds of gold coins, columns of silver and heaps of little bronze coins.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid.

'All mine? What if Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia found about this? They'll take it all away from me. They're my legal guardians!' Harry panicked. But relaxed when he thought about it logically. If the Dursleys had known about this, they'd have taken everything inside from him faster than he could blink. Harry wanted to count the number of times his relatives had complained about his upkeep and how trying to support him was costing them a pretty penny. All this time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London. Harry couldn't help but think about what life would've been like for him if he had his own money. _'Why did nobody see fit to tell me about this earlier? If mum was a witch then Aunt Petunia surely would've known about the bank.'_

Whilst Harry was deep in thought, Hagrid helped him pile some of the money into a bag. "The gold ones are Galleons,' he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a sickle, it's easy enough. Righ', that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?" Griphook handed the key back to Hagrid, the vault closing once the key was removed.

"Hagrid, maybe Harry should keep ahold of his key? I think it'd be fair for him to be responsible for his own money." Corvus's quiet voice echoed from behind Harry.

Hagrid looked unsure. "I don't know about that." Hagrid looked between the little key in his and Harry. "Are you sure you can keep it safe by yourself, Harry?"

Harry nodded quickly. There was no certainty he would ever get his key back if he let it out of his sight now. "I'm sure," he spoke confidently. "it'd be nice to have a backup plan in case the Dursleys try to starve me again," whispered Harry in a small voice. He went unheard by everyone besides Corvus who was staring at him with narrowed eyes. Harry was certain the boy would ask questions later when they were alone.

Hagrid held the key out to Harry. "Take it, Harry. Keep it safe and don't lose it." Harry nodded. The only way he would lose something so important was if somebody stole it from him. He was already thinking of several places he could stash the key away from the Dursley's prying eyes.

Hagrid turned back to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"

Griphook rolled his beady eyes. "One speed only," said Griphook. The group clumb back into the cart.

They were going even deeper now and the cart kept on gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. Harry was sure his coin pouch was going to fly out of his grasp when he felt Corvus's hand on top of his, holding the pouch with him. Hagrid groaned when he saw the two boys attempting to see what was at the bottom of the underground ravine they were travelling across. He pulled them both back by the scruffs of their neck and held a disapproving look on his face.

The cart finally stopped at their destination. Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole. Harry wondered how the goblin was going to open the vault when the goblin pushed them away.

"Stand back," said Griphook gravely. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers, which melted away at his touch. "If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there,'" Griphook explained.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.

"About once every ten years." Griphook had a nasty grin on his face.

Harry gulped. _'Goblins are scary.'_ He decided, Corvus had been telling the truth that you would want to be in the good graces of a goblin. He dreaded to imagine what other punishments the goblins had for intruders. Harry was sure something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault. He leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least but was greeted with emptiness-well at least he thought it was empty. Harry spotted a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.

Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask. Harry glanced at Corvus to see an uninterested expression on his face. _'How is he not curious about the package? Hagrid's been secretive the entire time.'_ thought Harry.

Harry ignored everything else happening around him until he was stood outside of Gringotts with the sunlight shining into his eyes. Harry didn't know where to run first, now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life-maybe more money than even Dudley had ever had.

"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Corvus, Harry, would the two of yer mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts. Makes me queasy every time." Hagrid did still look a bit sick, so the two boys entered Madam Malkin's shop, waiting for somebody to approach them. Harry patted the pouch to make sure it was still in his hand. He was nervous about losing the money. It'd be a disaster if he did.

Harry closed his eyes for a few moments.


	10. Hogwarts Supplies

Corvus observed Harry whilst his eyes were closed. So far, things had taken a better turn in his opinion. Corvus had vowed to make Harry's life as comfortable as possible when he had taken a closer look at his appearance. Harry was thin, abnormally thin. He was certain that if he pulled Harry's shirt off, he would be able to count every single one of his ribs. Corvus had a plan that was already set into motion the moment Hagrid gave Harry his vault key.

Corvus knew Harry had been watching him carefully. He saw Harry's reservations when it came to asking questions, but even then his curiosity often won out over his control. Corvus could see Harry was an inquisitive little boy, a boy who would've been extremely intelligent if he was allowed to ask questions to further his knowledge. A boy that would be confident in everything that he did if he wasn't forced to hide away his talents. Harry would be better prepared when he fought Voldemort-he would make sure of it.

When Harry next opened his eyes, Corvus was already greeting Madam Malkin.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. "Come along, there's another young man being fitted up right now, in fact." She led the two to the back of the shop where a boy with a pale, pointed face stood on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes.

 _'Draco Malfoy,'_ Corvus's mind supplied, reminding him of the importance of this meeting between Harry and Draco. Corvus stood at the corner of the room as Madam Malkin ordered Harry on top of a stool next to Draco, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. Corvus waited for Draco to speak.

"Hello," said Draco, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Harry. "Corvus and I are both going this year."

Draco raised an eyebrow at the name Harry mentioned. "My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," drawled Draco, bored of wasting his time buying Hogwarts supplies. "I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Corvus noted how Draco never gave a chance for either Harry or him to speak. He could see how self-important Draco believed himself to be.

"Have you got your own broom?" Draco asked.

Corvus was tired of the conversation already. Flying seemed great and all, but he hadn't seen the thrill of a sport that had people being injured half the time. 'Maybe I'll change my mind when I do play Quidditch.' thought Corvus absently. _'I can't see why Ron would sacrifice his studies for Quidditch. Learning about magic is much more interesting.'_

Corvus missed most of the conversation.

"I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been. Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Corvus stepped in with his own input. "All houses have good and bad points about them, Hufflepuff included." Harry was glad Corvus was now participating in the conversation. He hadn't been able to say anything interesting.

Draco sneered. "Even if they do have something going for them, Slytherin is still the best." At that moment, Harry decided he didn't like the boy very much. He was too similar to Dudley. Always looking down on those that didn't fit his ideal.

"I say, look at that man!" said Draco suddenly, nodding toward the front window.

"I wouldn't say anything about him," Corvus responded in a clipped tone. He waved to Hagrid who was waving at Corvus and Harry, pointing at three large ice creams to show why he couldn't come in. "He's our guide."

"Your guide? Are the two of you Muggle-borns?" Draco looked disgusted, he didn't want to be seen interacting with people he considered beneath him in public.

"No, and that's Hagrid. He works at Hogwarts," said Harry

"Oh, I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper, not a servant." Harry's instincts about the boy had been correct. 'Too alike Dudley,' he thought, glancing at Corvus to see if he would say anything.

"Yes, exactly! I heard he's a sort of savage- lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunks, tried to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

Corvus's eyebrows furrowed. The more time he spent with Draco the more he disliked him. He had thought it was bad in the books, but seeing him act this way in person made it worse. Corvus wasn't holding anything against Draco though. He knew Draco was emulating his father, Lucius. He acted and spoke the same way he did, just so he could please him. He sighed. Corvus knew he had a lot of work cut out for himself if he wanted the future to change for the better. He already had plans for Harry and Neville, but he had forgotten about Draco. Corvus wondered how he should go about influencing the boy. "You shouldn't listen to rumours, because that's all they are. Rumours."

Harry nodded. "I think Hagrid's brilliant. And so does Corvus."

"Do you really?" Draco was miffed at the two boys disagreeing with him. He decided to move onto another topic. "I really don't think they should let Muggleborns into Hogwarts. They just aren't the same. They've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter! I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" Harry wondered how the boy didn't need to breathe in between his sentences.

"I think you should be able to guess my surname. Malfoy." Harry was surprised with the tone Corvus had taken.

"Really? I have no recollection of anybody named-" Draco's face became devoid of any emotion. "I see. And I thought you were supposed to be dead. Mother said so." said Draco matter-of-factly, as if everything his mother said was always true.

"And I've already told you that you shouldn't trust everything you hear unless you can confirm it with your own two eyes," said Corvus. "Plus, I'm standing right here. You can't say I'm dead."

Draco was about to reply when Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," Harry was glad for the interruption. He could feel the tension in the air already.

Corvus stepped up onto the stool Harry had been on and Madam Malkin began fitting his uniform. "I'm sure mother would love to see you. She was so very sad whenever it came to your anniversary."

"I can see why mum cut ties with Lady Malfoy when I was believed to be dead. If she raised you to be like this, then I'd dread to think about how terribly ignorant she is." drawled Corvus, imitating Draco's previous tone when he was talking about his parents.

"Don't you dare say anything about my mother!" Draco's face was hot with anger. "My father will hear about this!"

"I think it's already too late since I've already dared to do so." They both hopped off the stools when Madam Malkin told them were done. "And telling stories to your daddy won't help.

"Off you go, both of you can leave now!" Corvus thanked Madam Malkin for her time and paid her for the uniforms. Draco had stomped out the moment he was free to leave. When Harry and Corvus exited the shop, Draco was nowhere in sight.

"You should've let me pay for the uniform myself," said Harry as they walked towards Harry.

"Just pay me back later," said Corvus absently, he was busy thinking about how differently the conversation in Madam Malkin's had gone. He had played a major role in changing how it went, but he was unsure if it was for the better.

Hagrid handed them the ice creams, noticing how silent the pair were after they had left the shop. "What's up?" Hagrid asked.

"Nothing," Harry lied.

They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry questioned Corvus on some of the things he had said back at Madam Malkin's. "What's Quidditch?" Corvus looked at one of the shelves as he replied.

"It's a sport you play on flying brooms. I'm not bothered to explain the rules, I don't even know most of them myself." Corvus looked back to find Harry dismal at his answer. "You can buy a book about Quidditch if you really want to know about it. I'm not the best person to ask since I didn't read anything about it." It was true. Corvus had spent the first-month reading history and geography books on the wizarding world, and the past two weeks reading the anatomy books his sister had given him.

Harry stayed silent for a few seconds before asking, "And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"

"School Houses. There are four of them"-he held up four fingers. "Slytherin for those who are ambitious, cunning and resourceful. They are also well-known for their leadership. Next, we have Gryffindor, the house which value courage, bravery, nerve and chivalry. Then there is Ravenclaw. They value intelligence, creativity, learning and wit. And finally, we have Hufflepuff. They are patient, hard-working, loyal and have a great sense of justice." Harry listened to his explanation intently. He tried to figure out his own traits but was unsure whether he would fit in with any of the houses. "You are sorted into the houses through an unknown method that is kept secret from the new students. Don't worry about it, Harry. I'm sure you'll fit in somewhere."

They bought Harry's school books in Flourish and Blotts. It was a quick affair because Corvus had placed all the books Harry needed into a small little pile at the storeroom the day before. The rest of the items on Harry's list was bought and all he had left to buy was a wand.

Hagrid looked at the list. "Just yer wand left- oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."

Corvus did his best to look surprised. "It's your birthday? Why didn't you say so? I would've bought something for you."

Harry felt himself go red. "You don't have to buy anything for me."

Hagrid patted Harry's head. "I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at- and I don't like cats, they make me sneeze, I'll get yer an owl. They're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'." Harry couldn't decline Hagrid's present because he seemed so happy about getting Harry his present.

Whilst Harry was choosing an owl, Corvus excused himself and told Hagrid and Harry he would be at the Magical Menagerie choosing his own pet. He was in the middle of examining a black cat when he heard voices behind him.

"Father, none of the pets here are regal enough for someone of our bearing."

"You're right, Draco. Come, we're going home since there's nothing else for us to buy." Corvus made sure to hide away from the two people speaking. He had no intention of being seen by the Malfoy males. He looked to the front of the store to see them gone.

Corvus went back to examining other pets in the shop. His eye was caught by a tiny form lying in a cage. "I wouldn't buy him if I were you. The puppy is vicious and attacks everybody who tries to get close to him." Corvus ignored the shopkeeper as he walked closer towards the cage and stuck his fingers into the cage. "I really do suggest you not to stick your fingers in there, young man! He's going to bite your fingers off."

"He's not going to do anything." The puppy was licking his fingers cutely. "What breed is he?"

The shopkeeper sighed. "He's a purebred German Shepherd. I found him on the streets out in London, he was starving then. I brought him back here and tried to sell him, but he's been aggressive to everyone but you."

"Maybe he just likes me." Corvus smiled when the puppy suddenly growled at the shopkeeper as he attempted to get closer. "I'll take him. How much is he?" He took out his mokeskin pouch-Andromeda had thought it wise to keep his money safe in a bag only he could open-and placed it on the counter. "Oh wait, could you also get me enough dog food and treats enough for a month? Just add it all up and give me the final price."

The shopkeeper grabbed the items Corvus wanted and set them down on the table. "Fifteen Galleons and fifteen Sickles." Corvus took out sixteen Galleons and the shopkeeper handed him two Sickles as change.

"Thank you," Corvus asked the shopkeeper to help him shrink everything he bought besides the cage because he was going to leave the puppy in there.

Corvus left the Magical Menagerie in a good mood and headed over to Ollivander's because it was the last thing he and Harry needed to buy. A tinkling bell rang as he entered the shop. Corvus saw Harry already in the middle of testing different wands. "Hello Hagrid, been waiting for long?"

"Ah, not really. We've only been here for ten minutes. Harry's been going through the different wands Mr Ollivander is handing him like crazy!" Corvus knew Harry would take a long time before he would finally be chosen by his destined wand. "I remember when I first came to Ollivander's, it took me less than five minutes to get everything sorted out!" Hagrid watched Harry explode the lights with the latest wand he was given.

Corvus was thinking about what kind of present he should get for Harry. He was unable to think of anything suitable for Harry until he remembered it was his own birthday as well. _'Mum and Dad are having a little party for today right? Maybe I can bring Harry with me over to the house.'_ He glanced at Harry. _'I'm going to need to convince Hagrid to let Harry come.'_

He tapped Hagrid on the arm, as he was too short to tap him on the shoulder, to ask whether Harry would be allowed to celebrate his birthday with his family. "Hagrid," said Corvus quietly.

"Yeah?" Hagrid didn't turn around.

"May Harry come over to the Tonks house to celebrate his birthday? My family was going to have a party today for my own birthday and I thought it would be nice if Harry could celebrate his together with me."

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday today as well as Harry's? I'd have bought you something as well!"

"There was no need, and plus, I think Harry needed the present more than me." The two were silent for a moment.

"I need ter get Harry back ter his relatives." Corvus looked down, disappointed by the answer. Suddenly he perked up.

"Can Harry stay at the Leaky Cauldron? He doesn't have to go back to his relatives, he already has everything he needs."

Hagrid was still unsure. "I would have ter ask Professor Dumbledore, I need ter tell him Harry's arrived back at the Dursley's safely as well. He's the one who takes care of things relating to Harry."

"He doesn't have to know about Harry staying in Diagon Alley. He'll be safe in the Leaky Cauldron, nobody would ever attack Diagon Alley." Corvus tried to convince Hagrid. "And if you feel like the Leaky Cauldron isn't safe enough, then I'm sure my parents would be willing to house him until term starts." Corvus implored Hagrid, using the same tactic his sister had on him-the puppy eyes. Corvus had begged his sister to teach him how to use the puppy eyes to its maximum effect.

Hagrid faltered when he looked at Corvus. "All righ' but don' blame me if Professor Dumbledore suddenly turns up ter check on Harry. I'll still need ter go back ter tell the Dursleys that Harry isn't coming back for ter rest of the year."

"Thank you so much, I wasn't able to think of a gift for Harry, so I thought this would be the best way to surprise him." Corvus let out a relieved sigh. He was glad it was Hagrid who had been escorting Harry to buy his supplies, he would not dare to attempt the same thing on somebody like Professor McGonagall and Snape. "You don't have to trouble yourself. You can go straight back to Hogwarts. I'll make sure my parents inform the Dursleys about Harry staying with us when we go over to pick up his clothes. I don't think Harry would want to wear the same pair of clothes for the next month or so."

Hagrid chuckled. "You seem ter have this all planned out. You're gonna do great things when yeh get to Hogwarts." Corvus blushed. "Oh, it seems like Harry's got his wand," said Hagrid, seeing Harry walk over with a wand in his grasp. "All done, Harry?"

"Yeah..." Harry trailed off, looking lost.

Corvus noted how Harry was acting differently after receiving his wand. 'Seems like Ollivander's words shook him up.'

"Well, Harry and I will be waiting right here for yeh, Corvus! Hope yeh get a good wand." Corvus nodded, still staring at Harry.

'Let's cheer him up later. It's my turn to choose a wand.' He was nervous. Why wouldn't he be? It was one of the most important times of his life. It was the time where he would receive the wand that would accompany him for life, as long as it was properly cared for and not damaged. Corvus put down the cage and told Hagrid to look after his puppy. "Hey Hagrid, could you look after my stuff while I get my wand?"

"Sure!" said Hagrid, not at all bothered by his request

"You aren't Edward Tonks, because I know he's an adult already. You look strikingly similar to the man. Hmm..." Ollivander's voice erupted from behind him.

'When the hell did he get behind me? Wasn't he at the counter just now?' Corvus jumped due to shock. How had he not noticed the man?

"Yes... you must be his son." Ollivander nodded, coming to a conclusion. "I wonder... if you have the same abilities as your sister?" He asked.

Corvus answered him swiftly, thinking the information was vital for him to find a wand. "Yes, I am a metamorphmagus just like my sister."

Ollivander's voice sent shivers down his spine. "Very well. What's your wand-arm?"

"I can use both hands." Ollivander's twinkled in surprise.

"Did you train yourself to use both hands or were you naturally born this way?"

"Naturally capable." Actually, he wasn't sure whether he was born with ambidexterity or whether the body's previous owner had trained himself in order to be ambidextrous. He had found out it was easy to write with both hands and he could even do so simultaneously though not without effort since it was rather difficult to keep track of what he was writing.

"Hold out both your arms. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Tonks. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another person's wand." Ollivander stared directly at him. "Except your sister's wand of course." He didn't elaborate, instead went to the back of the store to retrieve a box and laid it on the counter.

Corvus was intrigued about why he would be any different to other wizards and witches. Ollivander opened the lid to the box and held it out to him. Corvus grabbed the wand and immediately could tell the wand was perfect for him. The surge of magic which spread throughout his body when he grabbed hold of the wand was eerily similar to the sensation he always felt when either he or his sister was transforming back into their base forms.

He thought something had gone wrong because there were no signs of his wand accepting him as its owner-or so he thought until Ollivander conjured a mirror so he could see his reflection. Corvus was surprised by his hair constantly changing colours, he thought he already had that under control. "It is interesting how metamorphmagi react differently to their destined wand compared to other wizards and witches without the ability. Your sister's hair also flashed through colours when she first accepted her wand."

Corvus was slightly more concerned about changing his hair back to normal. He was glad that he hadn't lost complete control over his abilities. Once his hair was back to brown, he paid closer attention to what Ollivander was saying. "The reason why I said you'll be able to use your sister's wand to achieve the same results as your own, is because of the wand cores."

"You see, inside of this wand, is a single strand of hair from a metamorphmagus. And it came from your sister." The revelation was shocking. Corvus glanced down at the wand he held. "And inside of your sister's wand is a single strand of hair which came from you. which is why she too will be able to use your wand with the same efficiency. Both of you are inextricably linked." Ollivander reminisced about when he had made the wands from their hair. It had been an interesting experience for him, handling materials he was unused to.

"The strands of hair were plucked by your mother when your abilities first manifested. I do not know how your mother knew what to do with the hair, but she gave them to me and paid me to make the wands before either of you went to Hogwarts. Alas, when your mother informed me about your death, I had neglected to tell your sister the truth about what was really inside of her wand." Ollivander looked regretful.

"And now?" questioned Corvus.

"And now, I think it's time your sister knew the truth about her wand. When you do see your sister, tell her the truth. She might become more powerful. I do not know whether I will be correct with my guess, because even after all these years of studying Wandlore, there still remains things which are mysteries to me." A pensive look was on Ollivander's face. "Take care of your wand, and tell Mr Harry Potter to do the same."

Ollivander turned around and began to disappear into the shadows. "Wait! Could I get two wand holsters and wand maintenance supplies? Enough for Harry and I!"

Ollivander glanced at Corvus with an amused look. "It's not often I get a customer who comes into my store and remembers to buy supplies for wand maintenance." Ollivander went to his counter and reached underneath. "Two wand holsters, with the typical summoning charm so you can summon your wand into your hand at a moment's notice?"

"Yeah, how'd you know I'd ask for that?"

"I have many secrets that cannot be revealed, but if you must know, you're remarkably similar to your sister and she too asked for the very same things when she first came to buy her wand." He placed the wand polish and holsters into a tiny sack and shrunk it for him. That'll be twelve Galleons."

He paid him the appropriate amount of money, grabbed the sack and turned to leave when he remembered something Ollivander hadn't mentioned. "Mr Ollivander, you never told me what the wand wood was." Ollivander looked surprised.

"Did I really? I guess I'll tell you now. Your wand is made of cypress wood harvested from a tree that was struck by lightning three times. It was said to be a village's guardian tree. There are many stories regarding the tree which your wood was harvested from. But, off you go now!" Ollivander shooed Corvus away.

"Wait, you can't just tell me something fascinating about my wand and just leave me hanging!" Corvus's curiosity was piqued and wanted to know more about the tree his wand wood came from. He couldn't stand something being revealed to him but not be given all the details.

Ollivander looked at him strangely."But how else do I get my customers to come back to my store, Mr Tonks? It becomes oh so quiet when I'm alone without customers. I never receive returning customers often, so I'm forced to use tactics such as the one I'm employing now to have them come back."

Corvus was slightly annoyed Ollivander would resort to methods like this but he could understand what he meant. Ollivander's would be the shop which is the least busy in the entire Diagon Alley after all the Hogwarts students left for the year. "Just know, I'll be coming back eventually when my curiosity can no longer be held back."

Ollivander inclined his head. "And I'll be waiting in this store when you do. You will achieve great things with that wand, Mr Tonks. I suggest you never tell anybody besides your sister and significant other about the intricacies of your wand. Have a good day, Mr Tonks, Mr Potter, Rubeus." After saying his farewells, the man melted into the shadows.

Corvus shook his head at Ollivander's need for theatrics. "I've got to learn how he does that." He stared at the spot where Ollivander had vanished from. It looked very mysterious to just fade into the shadows in such a way and it was something he wanted to learn if he had the time. It would prove useful if he wanted to become an enigmatic person in the future.

"Learn what?" asked Harry, his mood improved after speaking with Hagrid.

"Nothing." Corvus wasn't sure when it would be the best time for him to tell Harry about his little surprise he had for him but planned to do so when Harry entered the Leaky Cauldron. Corvus held three sacks in his left hand, glad for the fact they had been shrunk, and a cage in his right hand.

Hagrid looked at Corvus. "Need help carryin' anything?" Hagrid was carrying Harry's trunk which held all of the supplies Harry had bought today.

"Nope, the Leaky Cauldron isn't far anyway so I don't have to carry the things for long." Hagrid nodded his head.

"We best get moving, we've already bought everything we needed so there's no need ter be staying here any longer." Hagrid ducked underneath the tinkling doorbell to leave Ollivander's. Corvus and Harry followed suit.

"What are you going to name your owl?" Corvus glanced at the sleeping owl inside of her cage.

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure, I can't think of any good names for her."

Corvus looked at his puppy who had fallen asleep. "Well, I can't help you there. It'd be best to name your owl for yourself. She's yours after all." Harry smiled.

"Yeah... she's mine," said Harry, breathless from all which had happened in the short span of a day. He had the freedom to do anything he wanted. He could choose his owl's name and nobody would say anything about it. Once Harry was over his brief elation, he sent sneaky glances at Corvus. Harry was still unsure whether Corvus was his friend. Even with how kind and generous Hagrid and Corvus had been towards him, he was still sceptical about whether Corvus had truly accepted him as his friend.

The group eventually arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Hagrid sent meaningful looks at Corvus, who nodded at what Hagrid was asking. "Harry," he called out Harry who had been staring at a witch which looked like the stereotypical appearance of how Muggles would have described witches.

"Yes?"

"What would you say if you had the chance to live away from your relatives? For an entire month, until we go to Hogwarts." inquired Corvus.

"That'd be great," said Harry dreamily, imagining life without the Dursleys. "but I'd have nowhere to go, and I'd have no money for food and everything." He looked down at his tattered shoes, shuffling his feet in dejection. He knew how unlikely it was for him to live elsewhere.

Corvus smiled. "What if you don't have to worry about either of those things?"

Harry's head shot up at the speed of light. "Then yes, I would love to live away from my relatives." His voice choked with emotion. He nodded his head quickly. "I would do anything if it means I get to leave the Dursleys."

Corvus was glad Hagrid had gone to leave Harry's trunk in a room upstairs. "I"d like you to know that you don't have to do anything besides work here at the Leaky Cauldron." He put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Look at me." Harry looked.

"Are you able to cook?" Harry nodded.

"Able to clean a room and make it spotless?" Again he nodded, why wouldn't he be proficient when it came to any of these tasks? He had been cooking and cleaning for the Dursleys ever since he was four years old.

"Then you're all set." Corvus dragged Harry by the shoulder towards the bar counter. "Hey Tom, what if I said I found another person that's able to do my job just as well as I can?"

Tom passed a glass of Firewhiskey over to one of his customers. "Are you certain he's capable of doing it just as well as you can?" He looked at Harry, who shifted underneath his gaze nervously.

"Very certain," said Corvus confidently, not at all scared of the possibility Harry wasn't as proficient as he was.

"Then I'd be happy to hire the person. But he won't be able to receive as much pay as you do," said Tom after thinking for a moment.

"You can cut some of the bonus pay I earn and add it to his pay." Harry was about to protest, but Corvus being Corvus, shot him down before he could even utter a word.

"Then that's perfectly fine. Is this person we're hiring requiring the same conditions as you are? A room and three meals a day?" Corvus nodded.

He pointed to Harry. "I've already moved his things into the free room opposite mine."

Tom glanced at Harry. "Well, then his test begins now. I'll tell customers that food will be available now, and they'll begin ordering." He threw an apron at Harry. "Better get moving." Corvus was about to enter the kitchen. "And no helping him Corvus! I know you still need to help Mr Blotts today!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Corvus called out from the kitchen. "I've already told Mr Blotts everything he needed help with has been finished yesterday! He checked too so I know I have plenty of time!" Tom couldn't say much to that.

"At least allow your friend to be the one cooking! This is still a test for him!" The patrons didn't even blink an eye at their conversation, too used to how the pair conversed with each other.

"I'll just tell you which ones are his dishes!"

"You could lie about that easily!" shouted Tom.

Corvus poked his head out of the kitchen door so Tom could see his face. He shot a deadpan glare at Tom. "When have I ever lied to you?" Tom at least had the grace to look apologetic.

"All right, I'll stop badgering you. Just tell your friend to cook something up for me and I'll taste it. Same test as yours!"

"His name is Harry, do well to remember that!" Corvus had disappeared back into the kitchen.

Tom shook his head fondly. Hagrid had already made his way down to the bar after placing Harry's trunk and owl into his new room. "Did they get it all sorted out?"

"Yeah, the boys seem really enthusiastic about it." Tom handed a glass over to Hagrid, who finished the drink in a single gulp.

"Well, I gotta get back ter Hogwarts, and back ter Professor Dumbledore." Hagrid seemed unaffected by the amount of alcohol he had already ingested today. His half-giant blood quickly ridding him of the buzz that came after drinking alcohol. "See yeh next time, Tom." Hagrid stepped out of the pub and vanished into thin air.


	11. First Glance of Hogwarts

A month had passed since Harry began living at the Leaky Cauldron with Corvus.

Corvus had brought Harry to his house via Floo Network-Harry was very unlucky because he managed to roll into a chair after falling out of the fireplace-and introduced Harry to his family. Harry was fascinated when Dora-Corvus's sister had made sure Harry called her Tonks with several threats of pranks-imitated his appearance. Corvus pulled his sister aside to tell her the truth about her wand when Harry was being smothered by his mother, Andromeda. Dora had misgivings about the entire thing but after Corvus handed his wand to Dora and asked her to cast a spell, those misgivings were wiped from her mind. Dora was pleased she had such a connection with her brother.

Corvus had his suspicions that his and his sister's wands would react in a similar way to Harry's and Voldemort's wands. He was not able to confirm his suspicions because it would've been awkward trying to explain how he knew to test for it.

Corvus informed his mother that Harry would be celebrating his birthday together with them. He had introduced Harry as his friend. Andromeda was glad her son had a friend-not caring at all about Harry's status and fame. Harry's had leapt in joy when he heard Corvus calling him his friend.

The party was a small one. They had a cake with candles which were blown out by both Harry and Corvus-the family enjoying some of the things the Muggle world did to celebrate birthdays. Presents were given after the cake had been finished-Dora ate most of the cake to the exasperation of Andromeda. Ted and Andromeda had given Corvus a necklace which was a Portkey that would take him back to the house. Dora gave him her personal notebook she had used when she had been in Hogwarts. The notebook contained spells she found interesting, useful and had all the spells which he would be tested on during his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. Corvus could see how thorough Dora had been with her studies at Hogwarts when he looked through the notebook. Each spell contained at least a page on its usage, pros and cons and etc.

Harry received a present from both Ted and Andromeda. It was a photo of his parents when they had gotten married. Harry cried when he had his first ever glimpse of his parents, and Corvus comforted him as they went back to the Leaky Cauldron. They began exchanging stories-Harry about his relatives, and Corvus about why he had only recently found out about his family, and also about why he had been slightly hostile towards the boy they had met at Madam Malkin's.

The rest of the month was uneventful, both Corvus and Harry had read through their school books for the year because they absolutely did not want to fail at Hogwarts. It also helped that they quite enjoyed learning about the subjects. Harry's favourite subjects were currently Potions and History. Corvus had decided he quite liked transfiguration-it came easily to him, he even told Harry "Transfiguration is nearly the same as my metamorphmagus abilities though it is definitely more complex." He had similar feelings towards D.A.D.A (Defence Against the Dark Arts) and his sister's notebook was helping him tremendously when it came to practising a few of the spells. Corvus shared the notebook with Harry since they were friends, and friends help each other. Harry helped him with Potions. Corvus noted how talented Harry was when it came to Potions-they had attempted to brew a few potions in their rooms in secret because they had the money to buy the ingredients at the Apothecary. Without Snape breathing down Harry's neck and causing him to be nervous, it was easy for Corvus to say Harry would be one of the best in their Potions class.

The two continued to work at the Leaky Cauldron-Corvus was glad he was no longer exhausted from a day's work with Harry helping him out in the kitchen.

And now, they were at King's Cross station and were looking for Platform 9 3/4

-Line Break-

"Follow me, Harry. Mum said the platform should be at the barrier which divides platforms 9 and 10." They stood in front of the barrier.

"What do we do next?" asked Harry.

"Just run at the barrier," said Corvus in a nonchalant tone.

Harry glared at his friend. "That's just stupid. Won't we get hurt if it isn't there?"

"Just get a trolley and run with it in front of you. If it crashes into the wall then we know it isn't there. If it doesn't crash into the wall and you suddenly find yourself in front of a big red steam train, then you'll know we're at Platform 9 3/4," Corvus drawled in a bored tone.

Harry didn't trust his friend, Corvus had played too many pranks on him in the past month-courtesy of his sister corrupting him. "How about you be the one to test it out?"

Corvus rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll do it." He grabbed a nearby trolley, placed the cage containing his puppy onto the trolley and ran at the barrier. Corvus passed through the barrier and out on a platform where a big steam train awaited him. "See, wasn't so hard was it?" he asked Harry, who followed after him.

"Oh be quiet, Corvus." Harry began to list items. "Do you have everything with you? Trunk, cage, Thor, wand?"

"Yes, I do. Gosh Harry, at this rate you'll be coming my mum." Corvus made sure everything was where it was. Thor, his German Shepherd, was inside his cage. His wand was in the holster which he wore on his forearm. His trunk inside of his pocket, having cast a shrinking charm and a feather-light charm on his trunk. The same could be said for Harry. "Do you have everything with you?" Corvus threw Harry's question back at him.

Harry patted his pocket and arm, knowing his trunk and wand was secure. "Yes, Hedwig is in her cage too." He looked around. "Want to get on the train now? We're here pretty early so might as well find a seat before the train fills up." Corvus nodded, pushing his trolley to the side once he grabbed the cage.

The pair hopped onto the train to see many free compartments.

"Just enter one of the closer compartments, it'll be easier to get off the train later," said Corvus, not wanting to be pushing his way out of the train when they arrived at Hogwarts. They placed the cages on the ground and closed the compartment door behind them. "I'm going to let Thor out, he's probably hungry by now," Corvus warned Harry.

Harry winced. "At least he hasn't started barking yet." He retrieved an owl treat from a pouch that hung from his owl's cage. "I'm glad Hedwig doesn't make such a fuss when it comes to food." Corvus gave Harry a deadpan look.

"Clearly you haven't seen her when she's hungry. She goes raving mad and pecks at people when you forget to feed her." The owl in question began preening her feathers after it had finished the treat. He took Thor out of his cage and placed him on his lap. He took out his shrunken trunk and tapped it with his wand to reverse the charm on it. Corvus retrieved some dog food and poured it into Thor's dog bowl which he then placed on the floor. He took a bottle of water out for when Thor finished his food. "Now are we still on for the prank?"

Harry grinned. "Yeah, it'd be hilarious if everyone thinks I'm not Harry Potter." His grinned dropped off his face. "At least until we reach Hogwarts."

"Cheer up, Harry. I'm sure not everybody will be clamouring to see your famous scar." He tried to soothe Harry's nerves though he knew it was unlikely for his words to be true. 'I feel sorry for Harry. His fame is going to cause so much trouble for him, and I can't really do much about it.'

"Hold onto Thor for me." He placed Thor into Harry's arms and promptly changed into Harry's appearance. "How do I look?" asked Corvus as he tried to look for a mirror.

"Exactly like me. You're just missing the glasses." Harry scrutinised Corvus closely, attempting to see if there were any discrepancies that would give him away. "Still find it amazing to watch you and Dora transform every time."

"I still find it amazing I even have these abilities." Corvus took out his own glasses-they had no vision correcting power since they were Plano lenses- and put them on his face. "I'm always prepared, Harry," Corvus continued with a smirk on his face, "I'm still having trouble when it comes to changing my age. You're close enough to my age so it isn't a problem. It's the last thing my sister has to teach me before we move onto looking like the opposite gender." Corvus shuddered, not excited about his future lessons.

Corvus had read through most of the anatomy books his sister had given him. Even he was surprised by how easy it had been to memorise the contents of the books. His sister admitted that he actually only needed to read the first three books she had given him out of the twelve books that she put in the trunk. Corvus wasn't outraged by his sister's deceit because knowledge was knowledge and learning about the human body was interesting. There were several things he wanted to experiment with but he decided to hold off on testing those until he finished his lessons with his sister.

"How does that actually work? Does your sister grow the necessary um..." Harry blushed. "body parts which define we are males?" Harry was reluctant to say penis.

"Well, Dora explained to me that she does grow a penis." He smirked at Harry, who was now blushing furiously. "She tells me that she loses the female body parts whenever she does transform and gains the male body parts. Now, not many people know about metamorphmagi can change their gender so don't go telling everybody." It was a sensitive subject and Corvus knew Harry would keep his mouth shut, unlike certain people they would meet in the future.

Harry mimed zipping his mouth. "Don't worry, not a soul will hear this secret." Corvus nodded once Harry had given his word.

"It's not possible for Dora to impregnate people when she's a male. She has no idea why it's not possible but she's definitely glad there are limitations to our ability. She theorises that I should not be able to become pregnant if I do transform into a female, and trust me I would be relieved if it is true." There was no way he wanted to give birth. He had read enough online posts on just how difficult carrying a child was. It wasn't even the worst part of pregnancy. "I don't think I can go through the pain that women do during childbirth." Corvus poured some water into Thor's bowl before continuing to speak. "I'm not going to go and test her theory out to see if it's true. The problems behind changing my gender shouldn't matter much as they're easily solvable."

"I'm glad you won't try to become pregnant to test a theory." Harry laughed at Corvus, knowing just how bad he was with pain. ' _It just feels wrong thinking about you as a female though,'_ thought Harry darkly, _'as long as I don't see his face on a female body, it'll be completely fine. He'll only be changing into a female when he wants to imitate someone's appearance or if he wants to be stealthy.'_

The train soon started filling up faster and faster. "Looks like the train's about to move" Harry pointed out after looking at his watch-a gift from Corvus after he saw Harry had no way of telling the time. The two continued on with their conversation as if the time didn't matter to them.

Two boys knocked on their compartment door. Both boys seemed to be mouthing 'Open up!' Corvus unlocked the compartment door-he didn't want just anybody barging in.

"Thanks for letting us in!" The first boy spoke.

The second boy began speaking, "Yeah! We could hardly-"

"Believe there was another set of identical twins coming to Hogwarts this year!" finished the first boy.

"Your speech patterns are weird. Are the two of you really able to finish each other's sentences?" Harry glanced between the two boys.

"Of course." The first boy pointed to the second boy. "Can't you see we're identical twins as well?" Now that they mentioned it, Harry was unable to tell the difference between the two. "He's Forge," the boy introduced himself, still pointing at his brother.

"And he's Gred." He inclined his head towards his brother, whilst holding out his hands for both of them to shake "It's nice to meet you. What are your names?"

"My name's Harry, Harry Potter." Harry shook Forge's hand.

"Blimey," Forge's eyes widened. "Gred, The Harry Potter's shaken my hand!" He looked at his brother enthusiastically.

"You don't think he's got the scar do you, Forge?" Gred asked his brother.

"Brother mine, I don't think he looks very comfortable about us talking about his scar." Forge pointed out, noticing just how uncomfortable Harry was with them talking about his scar.

"Ah, I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Here"-he stuck his hand out for Harry-"shake my hand and I'll stop speaking about your scar." Harry tentatively shook Gred's hand. "Anyway, I'm actually Fred, and that's my brother, George. Together we make the Weasley Twins." They sat down on the seats, leaving their trunks forgotten on the ground.

"It's just something we do to confuse those that can't tell us apart," said George-Harry made sure to remember the differences in personality between the two so he could differentiate between them at a later date.

"Anyway, your twin's been a little too quiet." Fred pointed at Corvus.

"Oh, don't mind him. He just loves to listen to other people talking. I'm the one who usually speaks for him." Corvus raised an eyebrow at Harry's words but still remained silent.

Fred nodded. "Yes, it seems like a common thing in identical twins eh? George speaks less-"

"And Fred speaks more than he's worth." George ended. Fred sent disbelieving looks at his brother.

He put his hand over his heart. "I've been betrayed by my brother, woe is me!"

Corvus laughed at the twin's antics. He really did love their personalities in the books. It had been a tear-jerking moment when Fred died. 'And that's why I hope to change the future for the better.'

"George, did you hear that?"

"Yes I did brother mine, seems like our silent twin has finally made a noise!"

Corvus continued to laugh, his laughter soon infecting everybody in the compartment. Corvus wiped a tear from his eyes, calming down, he held his hand out for the twins. "Corvus Tonks, it's a pleasure to meet the infamous trickster twins of Hogwarts."

Fred shook his hand in amazement "Are you by any chance-"

"-related to Nymphadora Tonks?" George finished.

Corvus had an amused smile, he didn't think the Weasley twins would be so reverent of his sister. "Yes, she's my sister."

George nodded his head as if it explained everything. "I see. I was wondering when Harry Potter had an identical twin brother we never heard about. You must have the same metamorphmagus abilities as your sister."

"Very good." Corvus changed back to his normal appearance. "Don't tell anybody but Harry and I will be playing a prank on all the students and professors until they figure out that this"-he gestured to his body which turned back into Harry's-"is not my normal appearance."

Fred and George grinned. "It seems like you have the same love for pranks as your sister. We've heard about many of her exploits."

Fred nodded. "George and I are the next upcoming prankster kings of Hogwarts. We plan to break the record for the most amount of detentions in our seven years of Hogwarts."

George added. "The two of you seem to be aspiring pranksters seeing how you're already thinking about playing a prank on the entire school on the very first day."

Fred added. "Why don't the both of you join forces with the both of us."

Corvus laughed. "That sounds wonderful. What do you say, Harry? Ready to plan mischief for an entire year?"

Harry sighed. "As long as our studies aren't neglected. I want to graduate Hogwarts with good grades."

Fred wrinkled his nose in disgust. "You're sounding more like an icky Ravenclaw, Harry."

George wrinkled his nose as well. "We hope you aren't a stickler for rules either. Don't want our fun to be ruined.:

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'm bound to break rules as long as Corvus is my friend."

"You wound me, Harry. Whatever do you mean? I'm the most innocent person you'll ever speak to." He placed his hand over his heart in mock hurt.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. How many times have you played a prank on me in the past month?"

Corvus shrugged. "I don't remember how many times I pranked you. Too many occasions to count."

Harry shook his head. Fred and George sent glances at the two. "How long have you known each other for? Those are some very strong bonds you two have there," asked George, it was rare for him to see friends who knew each other so well when they were barely out of their diapers.

"A month give or take," answered Corvus. "We met on our birthdays, and we sort of... hit it off from there." Harry nodded. Fred and George were impressed by the two.

The four began planning future pranks for the majority of the journey to Hogwarts. Fred and George had left their compartment sometime during the middle of their conversation because they suddenly remembered that they had to go look for their friend Lee Jordan. They excused themselves from the compartment, taking their trunks along with them.

During the entire trip, Harry and Corvus had not taken a single bite of food. George had kindly explained to the pair that it would be a wiser choice for them to save their hunger until they reached Hogwarts. Fred had mentioned how the food being served at Hogwarts would be worth the wait. And so they did.

Corvus was about to put Thor back into his cage when somebody came knocking on their door. 'Why are there so many people trying to come into the compartment?' he asked himself, straightening himself and unlocked their door. Still holding Thor, Corvus was face-to-face with a round-faced boy who tearfully asked. "Sorry for intruding, but have you seen a toad at all?" Corvus knew who the boy was in an instant.

He shook his head though Harry answered before he could. "No, we haven't seen a toad but if you'd like we can help you search for him?"

"No, no," He waved his hands in front of him. "somebody's already helping me, I don't want to bother anybody else." The boy stared at his shoes.

Corvus spoke up this time. "It wouldn't be a bother. We'd just have to find somebody who is able to summon your toad to you." The boy glanced up hopefully as Corvus's words.

"Really? You'd do that for me?" The boy seemed unsure about his words.

"Yes, It'd be relatively easy to find somebody who can cast the summoning charm since it's a Fourth-year spell." Corvus took out his wand. "I'd attempt to cast the spell myself, but I'm only a First-year," Corvus said, explaining why it would be better for them to find an older student. 'Well, it's more like I haven't attempted casting the spell in my entire life.' The holster didn't count because the summoning rune on the holster could be activated by pushing his magic into it-it had taken him an entire day to figure out how to push his magic into the holster. It had been easier for him to figure out how to push his magic into objects because of his experience which came with practising his metamorphmagus abilities. For Harry, it had taken him three days with Corvus's help. What they didn't know was that Harry had been extremely quick in learning how to move his magic in such a way.

"Oh, by the way," Corvus held out his hand. "name's Corvus Tonks. Mr Silent over there is Harry Potter." He jerked his chin in Harry's direction. Harry looked up when his name was mentioned and glared at Corvus for introducing him that way, but he kept silent. "Yes Harry, this is payback for earlier." Harry rolled his eyes at his friend, wondering how they got along with each other at all.

Neville gazed at Corvus's hand, and then at Corvus's face. Then back down again. And back up again. Corvus was amused by Neville's behaviour though it was starting to annoy him that the boy didn't just shake his hand. However. he said nothing, knowing any harsh words would scare him off.

Eventually, after thirty seconds of hesitation, Neville shook Corvus's hand. "Neville Longbottom."

Corvus bent down to place Thor into his cage. Once Thor was inside of the cage securely, Corvus told Harry he would be back. Harry nodded. "I'll be here looking after our things. Do try to come back before we arrive at Hogwarts, we still need to change into our robes."

Corvus waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. It shouldn't take Neville and I too long to find someone to cast the summoning charm for us."

Corvus closed the compartment door and led Neville down the train. Like Corvus had told Harry, it hadn't taken them very long to find a student which was willing to cast the spell for them. "What do you need me to summon?" asked the older student who had just come out of a compartment at the front of the train.

"My toad." Neville played with his fingers nervously. "I've lost my toad."

"I'll need the name of your toad. I don't want to accidentally summon all the toads on the train." said the older student.

Corvus was examining the older student who had offered to help them. 'Red hair, freckles and horn-rimmed glasses? This must be Percy Weasley.'

He determined the older student to be the brother of Fred and George, Percy Weasley. The twins had given accurate descriptions concerning their family members though they joked they hadn't needed to. "In any case, if you spot a redhead with plenty of freckles on their face, then you can be sure they'd be one of our family members."

"His name is Trevor," replied Neville. "Trevor's his name."

Percy made a show of brandishing his wand. "Accio Trevor."

They waited a few seconds in silence. "Um... did the spell fail?"

Percy seemed affronted by the question. "Of course it didn't. Just wait patiently for a few more seconds."  
A minute passed before Neville spoke up again. "Uh... maybe you could recast the spell? I don't think the first attempt worked."

Percy took off his glasses and repeated the incantation louder this time. "Accio Trevor!"

The toad in question soon came zooming towards the older boy, who dropped his wand when Trevor slammed into him from behind.

Neville quickly picked up his toad and began thanking Percy over and over again. "Thank you so much. Thank you. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost Trevor. Gran would kill me if I lost him."

Percy retrieved his wand and smoothed out his robes so he was once again looking his best. "No need to thank me. It's my job as a prefect to help students in need," said Percy pompously. "Now I must get back to patrolling the train. Too many students are up to trouble these days." He started his way down the train, away from Neville and Corvus

Corvus tapped his chin. "Like your brothers?"

Percy looked back. "I haven't even given you my name let alone told you about my family, so how did you know?" He straightened up suddenly. "Ah, nevermind. I must be so famous even those who have never met me in person know me by appearance and reputation."

Corvus snickered. "No, no. I only know who you are because of your brothers, Fred and George. They give very accurate ways to identify you." he said by way of explanation. "Red hair and freckles? Weasley. Horn-rimmed glasses and acts pretentiously? Percy Weasley. And plus, you were being rather rude leaving without introducing yourself."

Even Neville let out a snort at Corvus's description though he had the grace to stifle his laughter in an instant. Neville looked at the older boy fearfully, who was turning bright red.

Percy's fists clenched, his right hand going white as he held onto the wand tightly."You little-" Percy grit his teeth, stopping himself in time before he said anything he shouldn't. Corvus watched Percy compose himself in a single second. It impressed him very much. With his eyebrows the only indication of his annoyance, Percy introduced himself. "Percy Weasley, a Fifth-year at Hogwarts, and a prefect of Gryffindor house. I do hope you aren't in the same house." Percy would've extended his hand for Corvus to shake but he had been offended by Corvus.

Corvus introduced himself-he did seem to be introducing himself an awful lot today though it was to be expected. He was going to a school where nobody besides Harry and Hagrid would know his name. "Name's Corvus Tonks, a First-year at Hogwarts, and a prankster." He copied Percy's introduction by way of annoying the older boy even more.

Neville spoke up after Corvus. "Um...my name's Nev-Neville L-L-Longbottom. It's my first year coming to H-H-Hogwarts. I'm hoping to be in Gr...Gryffindor." He bowed his head, not wanting to look at either boy in fear of them laughing at him.

Percy shot an inscrutable look at the Longbottom boy. "You seem like a polite boy, unlike this rascal. I'll be pleased to help you if you need help."

Neville looked up at Percy before bowing again. "Th-thanks. Th-thank you again f-f-for helping me find Trevor."

"I'll be on my way to look for my two brothers now, I need to have a stern talk with them concerning what's appropriate and what's not appropriate to say behind a person's back." He shot a pointed look at Corvus before leaving, never casting a second glance behind him as he walked with his head held up

Neville turned to Corvus. "Thank you for helping me! I would have never found Trevor so quickly without your suggestion."

Corvus waved away his thanks and imitated Percy. "No need to thank me. It's my job as a fellow student to help others in need."

It drew a snort out of Neville, who smacked his hand over his mouth. He didn't want to be laughing at somebody who had just helped him. Corvus grinned at Neville's reaction. "Come on, let's get back to my compartment. Don't want Harry to be lonely, do we?"

Neville shook his head. "I'd l-l-love to follow you back, b-b-but I need to find my friend who was also helping me search for Trevor."

Corvus knew who Neville was talking about. "That's okay, you should go look for your friend and him/her/it that you've found your toad."

Neville blushed. "Thank you. I'll see you later!" He waved goodbye before running off to search for his friend.

Corvus shook his head fondly. _'Guess the first meeting didn't go too badly. We do have to work on those nerves of his. I never expected him to be this much of a nervous wreck. I'm seriously starting to question just how on earth wizards and witches raise their children.'_ He tapped his chin. _'I think Harry might be able to bring out some of his courage. He seemed to get over his own shyness pretty quickly.'_ He knocked on the door to his compartment-Harry having locked it once he left.

"You're back quickly," said Harry, letting his friend into the compartment. "Where's Neville? I'd have thought you would kidnap him and bring him back to our compartment."

Corvus shrugged as Thor licked his finger through the cage. "I was debating whether I should, but I decided it would be too much for him because doing such a thing would scare him.. Don't want him to be afraid of us," he explained.

"True." Harry flipped a page in the book he was reading before using a feather as a placeholder for a bookmark so he could return to where he had read up to whenever he picked the book up again. "He seems a little bit... too nervous, don't you think?"

Corvus nodded. "He's worse than you were when I first met you. At least you weren't stuttering over your words. You were just too nervous or shy when it came to asking questions or voicing your own opinions."

Harry glanced away. What Corvus said was true, he had been nervous and shy at first, but spending so much time with Corvus had brought him out of his shell. He had definitely become more outgoing though he still preferred to stay quiet when he wasn't with anybody he knew. With Corvus, it was hard to stay quiet because he just naturally seemed to be able to bring out his talkative side, and plus, who would be able to stay silent when you're being bugged by a person constantly. Not him, that was for sure.

"If you already have your eye on him, then I don't expect it to take very long before you are able to sink your claws into him, corrupting him with your presence. Just like you did with me," said Harry.

Corvus turned his left hand into a claw. The claw had no scales like a normal one did. "Too bad I can't turn my entire body into an animal's." He returned his hand back to its normal appearance. "And you're making me sound like an evil person that corrupts people for the worse."

"But isn't that true?" asked Harry, raising his eyebrows.

"Of course it isn't." Corvus wiped his finger free of any saliva on his trousers. "Don't you think it was strange Neville never said anything about how both our appearances and voices are the same?" asked Corvus, now only realising Neville had never commented on their looks.

"I did notice, but he was probably more concerned about finding his toad." Harry pointed out a reason why Neville might not have noticed. "He was so nervous when he came in so it was unlikely he would scrutinise our looks very closely. He's not like you who's able to notice all the little details in an instant."

Corvus had to give credit to Harry for explaining Neville's behaviour even though he only had a few seconds of interaction with the boy. Corvus was proud of how much Harry grew in a single month. He hadn't expected so much growth from Harry because in the books nobody had ever given much of a chance to grow into the person he should've been instead of being moulded into the perfect hero Dumbledore desired.

"What can I say? I'm just amazing." he praised himself shamelessly.

The compartment door rattled violently. Both boys glanced through the window to see three boys standing outside. The blonde boy who stood in between the two other boys was the boy they had met back at Madam Malkin's.

"Malfoy." Corvus groaned. "Do you want to open the door, or do you want to leave them just hanging about outside until we reach Hogwarts?" asked Corvus.

Harry shrugged. "Up to you. Would you rather ignore them and continue on with our own conversation or do you want to hear what he actually has to say?"

"The first idea sounds good but I don't think he's going to give up anytime soon. Look at how red his face is!" He nudged Harry to take a look at Malfoy.

"Seems really red to me. Think he's going to explode anytime soon?"

"Not in the way you're thinking." Corvus stood up to finally unlock the compartment door even though he knew full well what was going to happen.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're all saying Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, isn't it?" he asked.

"No, I'm not Harry Potter. As you can see right here, I have a twin. Harry Potter doesn't have a twin." Corvus answered for Harry. They currently had the same voice so it wasn't like he would be able to tell the difference between them.

Malfoy looked at Corvus and Harry blankly. "Why wasn't your brother in Madam Malkin's with you?"

"We're identical twins, one person being measured for our robes is enough," said Harry, looking at Malfoy like he was dumb.

"My brother, Harrison"-Corvus pulled Harry closer to him-"was buying his wand because we heard about how long a person would take inside of Ollivander's." Harry nodded.

Draco was sceptical. He stared at the two before finally buying their words. "My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. These two beside me are Crabbe and Goyle," said Draco carelessly. His eyes gained a sharp glint suddenly. "You two aren't Mudbloods, right? I would hate to be seen associating with a Mudblood."

Harry narrowed his eyes and was about to inflict pain upon Malfoy but was stopped by Corvus pushing Harry back down on the seat before he could rise any further.

"We aren't Muggleborns if that's what you meant. I think it's high time you left our compartment," said Corvus coldly. "you've overstayed your welcome."

Draco left the compartment with his two goons without saying anything else to the two boys. He wasn't going to waste any more time on those that didn't know of his family's status.

Corvus locked the door behind them. Harry had a downcast expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" asked Corvus.

"Nothing..."

"You aren't very convincing, just so you know."

"It's just... It's just I nearly lost my anger at the blond ponce." Harry unclenched his fists from his shirt. "If it hadn't been for you, I might've had done something I would regret."

Corvus unshrunk his trunk and Harry's so they could change into their robes. "Not like he wouldn't have deserved it," said Corvus.

"You aren't being helpful," Harry said distractedly. "I can't believe I lost control like that though! I pride myself on being able to control my emotions, but I don't know..." Harry sounded lost. "Malfoy got underneath my skin. He was acting like Dudley, and the underlying urge to punch him surfaced after being kept down for too long," explained Harry, still sore over how close he was to harming somebody.

"Harry, I can only tell you one piece of advice," said Corvus, pulling his robe over his clothes.

"And what advice is that?" asked Harry.

His tone grave. "Never keep your emotions hidden for long periods of time. Let them out once in a while. Because one day those bottled emotions that you kept hidden away will eventually force you to do something you truly regret."

Harry nodded numbly. He could see what Corvus was saying. "How am I going to release my emotions? I don't want to harm anybody."

"Hit something. Talk to somebody. Everybody has their own ways to cope with the stress that comes with bottled emotions."

"How do you deal with it?"

"Me?" Harry nodded. "I guess my most recent method for expressing my emotions is through pranks."

"Huh." Harry was surprised. Who would've known that besides just teasing or annoying people with his pranks, there was actually a reason behind why he did them.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Corvus, who was about to shrink their trunks, placed his wand back into the holster. Harry's stomach lurched with nerves, and when Harry looked at his friend, he could see his usual confidence missing from his face. Harry fed Hedwig one more treat whilst Corvus checked on Thor. Harry was glad Corvus had chosen a compartment near the front of the train, as most students were already beginning to pile into the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People behind them were pushing their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry and Corvus shivered as the cold night wind blew at their faces. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and both boys heard a voice familiar to them. "First' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry, Harry?" Hagrid greeted the two boys before jolting back in surprise. "My gawd, there's two of yeh, Harry!"

Corvus put his finger to lips to shush Hagrid. "Shh, everybody's going to hear you!" He whispered towards Hagrid urgently. Corvus and Harry had pushed their way past the sea of bodies.

"Oh righ', seems like you two up are to some mischief already! Glad to see you both excited for Hogwarts." Hagrid beamed as he continued to call for the First-years. "C'mon, follow me- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, the First-years followed Hagrid down a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them. "How many trees are there?"

Corvus answered Harry after taking a moment to regain his breath. "It's a forest. Dora told me about it. Apparently, nobody is allowed to enter the forest without a professor following them unless they want to die. She's said that many students have gone missing in the forest."

The cold wind and Corvus's answer had Harry shuddering. Corvus rolled his eyes at his friend's stupidity. Taking out his wand, Corvus muttered "Focillo." He brought the wand closer between their hands. "There now we won't be as cold."

"Thanks, Cor. It's too cold for me to think properly." Harry rubbed his hands so they could warm up. Corvus didn't mind the nickname Harry had given him, though he was surprised Harry would bother giving him one in the first place.

Nobody spoke much. Only the sounds of footsteps and Neville sniffing once or twice could be heard as they trodded behind Hagrid.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

Everybody gasped as Hogwarts entered their line of sight.

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great back lake. Perched atop a high mountain the other side, its window sparkled in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Corvus were followed into their boat by Neville and a girl who Harry presumed to be Neville's friend. "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - Forward!"

The fleet of little boats moved off all at once at Hagrid's order, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which the castle stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried through a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

They clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the massive, oaken door. "Everyone here?" Receiving no response, Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	12. Sorting

The door swung open at once. Corvus was greeted with the sight of a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. _'She looks younger than I expected her to.'_ He looked at Minerva McGonagall who stared back at him. Corvus was certain that if he managed to get on the wrong side of the woman, she would be unforgiving with her punishments.

The witch had a very stern face, showing that she was not someone to cross. Harry was nervous and seeing just how serious the witch was looking made his palms sweat-the inside of the castle being considerably warmer compared to outside of it.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide.

Corvus scanned the entrance hall. It was massive and he doubted he would ever see another room of such size in the wizarding world-they weren't many buildings that needed so much space in the first place. The grim and forbidding walls were lit with flaming torches similar to the ones that lit up the halls and underground of Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, but he could see delicate carvings etched into the ceiling. A magnificent marble staircase facing him led to the upper floors.

 _'I'm not even going to question how they managed to build the castle. I'm just going to out on a limb and say most of the construction was done by Magic. Most castles aren't built by magic but it's the only way I'm going to explain some of the strange things I'm sure I will notice during my time at Hogwarts.'_ thought Corvus.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Both Harry and Corvus could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. _'The rest of the school must already be here'_ thought Harry, thinking Professor McGonagall would be bringing them in from there-instead she showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing closer together than they would usually have. They peered about nervously, wondering what they were supposed to do.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, silencing all the first years. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time together in your house common room."

Professor McGonagall paced the room, continuing to speak as she did so. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, whilst any rulebreaking will result in the loss of house points and detentions." She looked at the students menacingly. "At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

She walked towards the room's exit. "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I highly suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered on a few students. "I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She stressed the last word before leaving the chamber.

Everyone in the room began conversing with each other, everybody was nervous because of Professor McGonagall's speech. Harry gulped in fear, not daring to utter a word. He did not want to face any kind of punishment from the stern witch. "Calm yourself, Harry," Corvus said, knowing how nervous Harry was feeling and tried his best to comfort him, even though he was resting his eyes.

Corvus himself was feeling nervous but not so much about the attention they would receive during the sorting. He could hear many people discussing how they would be sorted. He was nervous about what house he would be sorted into. He wasn't too afraid about which house Harry would be sorted in because he believed he hadn't influenced Harry too much. He had simply brought out Harry's previously hidden personality.

Corvus's ears perked up when he heard snippets of a conversation. "... Fred says it hurts a lot... think he was joking." Corvus knew who the boy was.

Harry panicked, his heart giving a horrible jolt. Harry began imagining what the tests could be. He wondered whether the month of review time with Corvus would be enough. What on earth would they have to do? He had expected for him to be sorted since Corvus had explained the house system to him but he imagined there to be a test.

Corvus wanted to laugh but knew that it would only draw attention to him. He also knew that it would be rather rude of him to laugh at his friend's nervousness. He couldn't wait to see Harry's expression when he found out that all they had to do was put on a hat and let it do its job.

Corvus looked around the room to see that everyone else was terrified. No one was talking much except a bushy-haired witch, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she would need. This time Corvus snickered. He stifled his laughter quickly but he hadn't been fast enough since Harry heard him.

"What are you laughing about?" Harry tried hard to take his mind off the Sorting. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he had had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. He kept his eyes on the door even when Corvus replied to him. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and them to their doom.

"I just find it funny how you're panicking so much. I've told you before that there's nothing to worry about."

Harry glared at his friend, no longer staring at the door. "I don't see how you're so calm about all of this? Aren't you worried about what's going to happen during the Sorting?"

Corvus shrugged. "I've mentioned it before. I'm more worried about which house I'm going to be sorted into. Plus-"

Something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air screaming-several people behind him gasped audibly.

"What the-?" Corvus shouted. So did the people around him. The only person who hadn't been shocked was Harry because he was too busy laughing at Corvus.

"I. Can't. Breathe." He gasped. Harry wiped a tear off his face, regaining his breath. "I can't believe you screamed like a little girl! You always made yourself out to be so brave, but inside here"-he patted his chest-"you're just as afraid as we are."

Corvus rolled his eyes. "I'd like you to say that with a ghost behind you?"

"Ghosts don't exist, Corvus. Don't try to prank me, I'm not going to fall for it this time." Harry crossed his arms. An icy cold sensation had Harry shivering. "How'd it become so cold all of a sudden?" Harry watched as a pearly-white and slightly transparent figure passed through his body in disbelief.

"Bet you think they exist now," Corvus said, smirking at Harry. Harry pouted, unhappy with how his fun had been ruined so quickly.

Corvus pointed at the ghosts which had streamed through the back wall. They were gliding across the room talking to one another and hardly spared any glances at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. Harry ignored the ghosts' conversations since he was creeped out by their existence. "They do mention the existence of ghosts in Hogwarts, A history. I told you to read it since you love learning about History."

"I haven't had time to read that massive book! I was busy reading my other books..." said Harry quietly.

"Move along now," A sharp voice said. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. "Form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me." Harry's legs felt like lead, but he still managed to get into line behind Corvus. They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Corvus was amazed. He had never imagined such a strange and splendid place, even in his dreams 'The descriptions truly don't do this justice.' thought Corvus, looking around the room as they continued to follow behind Professor McGonagall. The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that floated in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting.

These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. Corvus swore the entire room could've been lit up by the golden objects if they shone. At the top of the hall was another long table where the professors were sitting.

Professor McGonagall led the first years up here so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Corvus glanced upward and saw the infamous bewitched ceiling of the Great Hall. The ceiling was dotted with stars and it looked absolutely spectacular.

Harry and Corvus heard Hermione whispering, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A history."

Harry leaned towards Corvus. "Looks like there's another bookworm. Can't believe anybody would read through the entire book," he whispered. "It's hard to believe that the Great Hall isn't open the elements. It's so realistic."

"Magic creates wonders. Imagine how much we'll learn during our time at Hogwarts." Corvus quickly looked down from the Ceiling and watched as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

Harry wondered what the hat was for. 'Maybe we have to pull a rabbit out of the hat?' Harry thought wildly. He glanced at the hat intensely since everybody's gaze was now staring at the hat, even Corvus's. For a few seconds, there was complete silence.

Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth-Harry nearly gasped-and the hat began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and because still once again as if it had never moved in the first place.

A boy was whispering, loudly. It seemed like the boy wasn't very capable of adjusting his volume. "I'll kill Fred. He was going on about wrestling a troll." A few first years scoffed at how gullible the boy could be. It had been unlikely the professors would put the students in danger.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat to be sorted." She began calling names one by one.

Corvus tuned out the majority of the sorting. It was rather boring when you already knew where everybody besides yourself would go. He heard Harry being called up to the stool. "Potter, Harry." He turned his attention to Harry. He had the decency to listen to his own friend's sorting though he was almost certain that Harry would be in Gryffindor. And he was right.

"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted.

Corvus watched Harry walk down towards his new house with wobbling legs. He smiled proudly at Harry. The Great Hall burst into noise when Harry was sorted into Gryffindor. He could hear Fred and George chanting continuously. "We got Potter."

Corvus looked beside him. 'There's only three other people besides me left.' It was going to be his turn soon and he was apprehensive. He was unsure what the hat would be able to see during his sorting but if that information was ever made public, he'd be screwed in so many ways he would have to hide in the Muggle world for eternity.

"Thomas, Dean." Corvus watched the boy join the Gryffindors. It was his turn next. The only people were left were him, Lisa Turpin and Ron Weasley. He closed his eyes and embraced himself for his own sorting. Corvus had dreamed about the Sorting for years in his previous life and now he had the chance to experience it for real. He was afraid of the Sorting hat rifling through all of his memories. Corvus hoped the hat wasn't able to reveal anything it found in his mind.

"Tonks, Corvus." Professor McGonagall called. He stepped forward towards the stool and sat down. Professor McGonagall promptly dropped the hat on his head.

The only thing Corvus could hear was a small voice in his ear. "Yes, how very interesting. I would have never thought other universes existed. Yes... you have an interesting mind. It will be fun to sort you into your house. Don't fret over the details, I won't be able to tell anyone what I see in your mind. It's a safety precaution that was enchanted into me by the Founders. I'm not able to reveal any secrets I find in a student's mind as long as they do not pose a threat towards Hogwarts during the time of the Sorting."

Corvus's fear was alleviated. "I can see you mean no harm, but allow me to get started with your Sorting. Don't want to tarry too long." The hat stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking up. "Ooh, difficult, very difficult. It seems like you fit into all the houses. How shall I sort you? Should I put you into Hufflepuff, where your loyalty and hard work would pay off? Your sister certainly achieved great things in Hufflepuff..." The hat trailed off before continuing. Corvus wasn't sure he fit in Hufflepuff. Was he really that loyal? The only people he could think of being loyal to was his previous life's mother, Andromeda, Ted, Dora, Harry and Neville. It was such a small group he wasn't sure if that would count as loyalty. "You doubt yourself. No matter. All will become clear once you are sorted." The hat spoke, reading his thoughts like it was supposed to.

"There is Ravenclaw. Your thirst for knowledge and your curiosity about the wizarding world are enough to place you into the house. Yes, you would thrive in an environment where everybody is focused on their studies. But, then again your friendship towards your friend would pull you away from that select group and you will not be able to concentrate on your studies then... no Ravenclaw isn't the house for you, even if you value the same things they do." He could see where the hat was coming from. He was definitely a person who wanted to learn much, but he doubted he would be able to abandon anybody for his studies."

"Gryffindor. The house of the brave and the courageous." The hat stopped speaking, Corvus wondered what the pause was for. "Most would panic if they found themselves in an unknown location. But you... you didn't. You cried about your death and you cried about how you would never see those you loved again. You never once panicked, yes you were scared when you weren't able to escape that dark room, but you never had a panic attack. But the most important thing that would place you into Gryffindor is the courage to change the future." The hat didn't elaborate.

Corvus didn't feel courageous. He didn't feel brave. Corvus thought back on what the hat said. _'Did I really not panic? I was sure I did. How else would I have caused accidental magic if it wasn't because of my panic?'_

The hat chuckled deeply. "You should see all the stares you're receiving from the students and staff."

' _What? Why would they be staring at me?'_ Corvus spoke to the hat with his thoughts, knowing the hat could hear his thoughts perfectly well.

"You've been on the stool for six minutes. You're a Hatstall, Corvus. And the thing is... we aren't anywhere close to being finished."

Corvus groaned. He gained so much attention just by sitting on a stool for longer than he wanted to.

"Let's get back to your Sorting." The hat laughed.

"Lastly, we have Slytherin. Yes..." Corvus already knew he was resourceful, ambitious and cunning. Many were traits he had cultivated when he was a business manager for things he inherited from his parents. He wasn't sure if he was a leader, he very much doubted it. "Even you realise you would fit well there..." The hat seemed fond of pausing for a few moments.

"Before I announce your new house, I would like to ask you to come to the Headmaster's office to speak to me. It's been boring to not have anybody to talk to, and you seem like an interesting person. Do come, otherwise, I'll find you..." The hat told him. "Good luck. Better be GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word to the entire hall. Corvus took off the hat and walked towards the Gryffindor table in deep thought. He was relieved with the end result of the Sorting but the hat had revealed many things about himself that he never took the time to notice before.

Corvus was jolted out of his thoughts by two red-headed boys grabbing his arms and pushing him down onto a seat in between them. The two boys were grinning. "You took-"

"rather long up there."

"Was the hat-"

"unable to decide-"

"where it wanted to put you?" Corvus sighed at the twin's antics. He had discovered a way to identify the differences between the two.

"No, the hat was determining whether it should put me into Gryffindor or Slytherin." Corvus shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. Harry was listening closely to his friend, he was sat directly in front of Corvus.

"Anybody who was considered for Slytherin is just as slimy as they are!" Another red-head shouted, taking a seat beside Harry.

"Icky Ronniekins complaining about our friend?" Fred looked at George.

"Seems like our brother hasn't learnt much about being quiet with his opinions, Fred."

"What do you say we teach him a lesson, George?"

"Sounds like a great idea." They both smirked at Ron's paling face.

Everybody suddenly sat back down and quieted. Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms wide open as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry choked on his saliva.

"Is he - a bit mad?" Harry asked the twins.

"Mad? Yes, yes he is. A brilliant man nonetheless." George nodded at his twin's words.

"All wizards and witches are mad, Harry. Muggles as well. Everyone's mad in their own unique way." George's words made Harry feel better. "You should try to eat before the food vanishes." Harry and Corvus glanced down at the table.

Corvus's mouth watered at the dishes in front of him. Everything was something he had eaten at least once in his life, besides the peppermint humbugs he spotted on the side.

Harry was shocked about the amount of food on the table but then felt slightly queasy at the thought of eating everything.

"Aren't you going to eat anything, Harry?" Ron pointed his fork at the dishes-mouth still full with food. Many people grimaced at the boy's table manners.

"Oh right, yes... I was just thinking about what I should start with." Harry lied. He glanced at the dishes again. Ron accepted Harry's answer for what it was and returned to devouring his food with terrible table manners.

Corvus, knowing Harry's eating habits, placed a bunch of peas, boiled potatoes and roast potatoes on his plate. Harry smiled at him, grateful for his friend's kindness. He knew what Harry liked to eat and with how Harry was... starved at the Dursleys, he knew that he couldn't stomach the majority of the heavy food he could see on the table.

Harry began to eat, it was delicious. Not as good as Corvus's own cooking but definitely better than his own. After a while, a ghost in a ruff appeared behind Harry, watching him pour gravy onto some carrots he had just placed on his plate. "That does look good," the ghost said.

"Can't you-?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years. I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself?" The ghost floated above the table, bringing all the first years attention to him. "Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower." Corvus could see how courteous the ghost's introduction was.

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you! You're Nearly Headless Nick!" Everybody on the table seemed horrified at the boy's blatant rudeness, including his brothers. Corvus held in his snicker when he saw the frown on Harry's face.

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?" The majority of the people eating at the table rolled their eyes. They knew what was coming.

The ghost looked extremely miffed. "Like this," he said irritably. Sir Nicholas seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge."

Corvus said, putting down his spoon and fork as he spoke. "If a Dullahan exists, you can always ask it to decapitate you properly."

Sir Nicholas, who was looking pleased at the stunned looks on the first year's faces, turned to Corvus with a hopeful expression. "I don't know any Dullahans but you've given me hope."

"Sir Nicholas, do you mind putting your head back on properly. You're putting us off our meals." The ghost looked to who spoke. It was Percy Weasley.

The ghost did as Percy asked. "New Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have won the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable"-Sir Nicholas pointed at the ghost over at the Slytherin table-"he's the Slytherin ghost."

Corvus didn't look to where Sir Nicholas was pointing because he wanted to keep his appetite. The description of the Bloody Baron had been enough to chill him when he was reading the books.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus, greatly interested by the Bloody Baron.

"I've never asked," said Sir Nicholas delicately.

With that, everybody returned to their food, and once they had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food vanished from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean. A moment later the desserts appeared.

Harry looked even queasier than before, and he seemed torn between something. "All right there?" Corvus whispered.

Harry nodded. "Just don't feel good seeing all this food." Nobody paid them any attention as they spoke, too busy retrieving desserts and enjoying themselves. "There's nothing really healthy here. I don't think I can stomach much more."

Corvus stood up to retrieve a treacle tart and placed it on Harry's plate. "At least have one treacle tart before you stop eating. I know it's your favourite."  
Harry picked up the treacle tart and held it up to his mouth. "Thanks, Cor. Didn't see the treacle tart."

The conversation between the first years turned to their families. Harry tuned out the conversation in order to listen to Percy Weasley and Hermione talking about lessons. ("I do hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult-"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing - "). Harry began to feel warm and sleepy, looked up to see Corvus smiling. "Tired?"

Harry nodded his head before looking up at the High Table where the professors sat. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore.

Harry met gazes with the hook-nosed teacher, who was speaking to the turban-wearing professor. A sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead. The unexpected pain made him cry out. "Ouch!" He clapped a hand to his head.

"What is it?" asked Percy.

"N-Nothing."

Harry's answer satisfied Percy but the meaningful glances that Corvus was sending at Harry told him that he wouldn't be able to escape being questioned later. The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harry had gotten a feeling from the teacher's look that was hard to shake off - a feeling that the teacher didn't like Harry at all.

"Who are those two?" Harry pointed at the turban-wearing man and the teacher who had looked at him. "That's Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year. The other man's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to-everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

"Is that just a rumour?" Corvus asked.

"No, it's well-known by all the students that Professor Snape applies for the position every year. He's never gotten it though." Percy replied.

Harry watched Snape for a while, but the professor didn't look at him again.

At last, all the food disappeared. Professor Dumbledore got to his feet, silencing the hall miraculously.

"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you." He adjusted his half-moon spectacles. "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." His twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins. "I have also been asked by Mr Flich, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic is permitted to be used between classes in the corridors." The headmaster seemed amused by what he just said.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Few people were laughing.

"He's not serious?" Harry muttered to Percy.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at the Headmaster. "It's odd. He usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

"The Headmaster must have his own reasons for keeping everybody away from the corridor," Corvus spoke with his eyes closed. "It'd be best if we respect his wishes and stay away." His right eye opened slightly so he could send a few looks at Harry. "Don't let your curiosity get the better of you, Harry."

Harry huffed and crossed his arms. His friend always seemed to know when he was thinking about doing something that would break the rules.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed how nearly everybody's smiles became rather fixed, especially the other teacher's.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end. A long golden ribbon flew out of it, rising high above the tables and twisted itself-snakelike-into words.

"Everyone pick your favourite tune," said Dumbledore, looking all too cheery to everyone's dislike, "and off we go!"

The school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now, they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot."

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only Fred and George were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes. " A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!" Harry wondered why the Headmaster had been treating them like horses.

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry was too sleepy to even notice the strangeness of his surroundings as Percy led through sliding panels and hanging tapestries. Corvus, however, made sure to remember the paths they were taking because it would help him and Harry tremendously when they wanted to move around the castle.

They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was about to question Percy how much further they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.

A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves,' Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist that's annoyed many students and professors, yet nobody does anything about him." He raised his voice, "Peeves, show yourself!"

A loud rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered. Harry wondered if it was possible to exorcise the ghost like they did on the shows Dudley watched on the telly.

"Why don't you exorcise Peeves if he's such a bother to everybody?" Corvus asked, unknowingly asking what Harry wanted to know. "Even the ghosts are tired of Peeves."

"I wish they would but Professor Dumbledore has told everyone to leave him alone." Percy sighed, rubbing his hand over his face because Peeves was still taunting them. "Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

"I think Peeves gets along with Fred and George. They seem to adopt the same kind of speech patterns sometimes." Corvus whispered to the tired Harry.

Harry didn't feel like wasting his energy reacting to Corvus's comments. He really, really wanted to fall asleep.

Corvus heard no reply from Harry, causing him to look at his friend. When he noticed his fatigue, he stopped talking to the boy so he would be able to conserve his energy at least until they made it to their rooms.

Peeves swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked, though Corvus had to force Harry down because he was too tired to even react to the sudden attack.

"Go away, Peeves. Or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy, his face was turning red. He was struggling to hold his anger in because he, himself was tired and just wanted to get the first years settled in at the dorms.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.

Percy composed himself. "You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are." Corvus snickered. Cleary Percy didn't know about the friendship between Fred, George and Peeves.

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman. "Password?" She said.

"Caput Draconis," answered Percy.

The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it-Neville and Harry needing a leg up-and found themselves in the Gryffindor Common room, a cosy, round room full of comfortable armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase-they were obviously in one of the towers- they found their beds at last: six four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed.

"Great food, isn't it," Ron muttered to Seamus through the hangings. "Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets." Harry was too tired to care and was about to fall asleep when Corvus crept up to his bedside and sat down on the ground.

"I know you're tired, Harry, but I just wanted to say I'm glad we're both in the same house." Corvus snickered. "The worst thing about the entire day was probably the fact that nobody noticed our appearances besides Fred and George. I'm sad that they didn't even notice." He paused for a moment to look at Harry to make sure he was still listening. "So I'm thinking that we should continue to keep the same appearance until somebody actually notices."

Harry, though tired, had listened to his friend talking. "Yeah... that sounds great..." He yawned. "Go to bed, Cor."

Corvus sat down on his own bed, falling asleep before his head even touched the pillow.

"I'm glad... we're in the same house as well, Cor." Harry fell asleep as well.

Harry felt like he had eaten a bit too much, even though he barely touched most of the food because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrel's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully-and there was Malfoy laughing at him as he struggled with it-then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold. A burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking. He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.

He never even realised somebody touching him on the forehead, humming softly.

 **-Author's Note-**

 **Sorry for the late post but I've been busy yesterday and will be busy for the next week so do not expect regular updates. Will try my best to catch up. Sorry if the last few chapters feel like the actual book but I've needed it to set the scene for the rest of the fanfic. Tell me what you think so far, give me some constructive criticism because these are unedited chapters so yeah... anyway thank you so much for taking the time to read the fanfic. Will try my best to regularly update but sometimes life takes priority. Hope to reach 100k words before the end of the month though.**


	13. First Lessons

"I insist that you at least take them off if you want to stay anonymous!"

"I'll take them off but at least tell me why I should take only my glasses off! Shouldn't we be doing something..." The voice paused. "more?"

"Trust me, without your glasses, nobody will recognise you. Plus, all of them will be staring at me. You wanted to stay out of the spotlight. I'm helping you. It'll at least give you a chance to see how everybody would be looking at you. Eventually, the stares should die down so you'll be safe to wear your glasses outside of classes then. You shouldn't worry about any of the first years clamouring over you because they'll become used to you quickly. Others, not so much. They only get to see you outside of lessons, that's why they stare and not our peers."

Harry sighed. "I guess. How am I going to see where I'm walking?"

Corvus rolled his eyes. "Didn't we buy those contacts for you when we bought you new glasses?"

Harry's eyes widened. "You're right. But do I really have to?"

"There would've been no point in buying the contacts in the first place if you don't wear them."

"Fine, fine. Just wait here for a moment while I put them in." Harry retrieved a bottle from his bedside drawer and ran into the toilet. Nobody else was awake in their room as they had woken up early so they could prepare for the day.

Harry came out of the toilet ten minutes later. "Let's go down to the Great Hall now." The two left their room quietly, not wanting to disturb the other occupants who were still softly snoring.

 **-Line Break-**

"There, look."

"Where?"

"Next to the short kid with the messy hair."

"Wearing the glasses?"

"Did you see his face?"

"Did you see his scar?"

Whispers followed Harry and Corvus from the moment he left the dormitory. People lined up outside classrooms stood up on tiptoes to get a look at Corvus, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they would just stop because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes. He was unsure how Corvus managed to deal with all their attention, watching his every move. Harry couldn't cope with the stares, and he hadn't even been the person who it was directed it to, though it was just as bad because Corvus had taken on his appearance.

He was glad that nobody ever disturbed them during meals in the Great Hall, besides Fred and George. The twins helped Corvus and Harry greatly when it came to navigating the school.

Harry felt guilty about throwing Corvus in the spotlight. Corvus seemed to handle the attention really well by ignoring the majority of the students. Corvus only spoke to those which didn't treat him like he was some sort of zoo animal.

Corvus's ability to ignore the whispers had a limit. He hit that threshold where he snapped.

"Have neither of you seen another human being? I don't see why you're ogling me like some kind of rare specimen because as far as I can see, I'm the same as you." He pointed at a girl. "and you." He then pointed to a boy. "Stop staring at me and treat me like a normal person. Do you want to know what a person's like? Don't trust books, interviews, or any kind of rumours or news that came from others. Get to know that person yourself. Become their friend or an acquaintance. Form your own opinions. Don't act like stalkers because someone will retaliate, just like I have. Good day." He waved goodbye to the crowd which had formed at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"I'm sorry I said something like that when I'm still in your appearance. Not sure what's going to happen but I might have caused problems for you," he whispered, apologising to Harry.

Harry shook his head, as they headed for some open seats at the Gryffindor table. "It's fine, something like this was bound to happen. You were sure to retaliate and I bet some pranks are in order for you to relieve stress?"

"Nah, pranks can come later. Let's just get settled into the castle first before we begin pranking others. I want to know the school's layout too. It's doubtful we've explored the entire castle in the few days we've been here, even with Fred and George's help."

Harry nodded. "Sure."

Harry was surprised to find out how many of their peers had trouble when ti came to magic. Nobody really had an advantage over each other, besides himself and Corvus. It was exactly how Corvus had said it would be. 'I really needn't have worried. Guess all that month of practice with Cor didn't actually need to happen. Good that we had the extra month though, Corvus and I can focus on other studies first.'

They studied the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Harry found the class interesting especially when he asked Professor Sinistra how Astronomy was related to Potions-a note in one of the Ingredients textbooks he bought had mentioned how Astronomy had an effect on different plants when it concerned their harvesting dates-Professor Sinistra explained that Professor Snape and Professor Sprout would be the better teachers to ask when it concerned such things.

Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch named Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Harry, Corvus and Neville stayed behind after her classes. Harry to ask her about the links between the subjects, Neville to continue taking care of the plants, and Corvus stayed behind to wait for his friend. Corvus took the opportunity to converse with Neville. Neville was much, much calmer when Corvus spoke to him whenever he was tending to the plants.

It was during this time that Corvus attempted to convince Neville to join his little group.

They attended the most boring class in the entire castle; History of Magic. Corvus hadn't been too surprised about how boring the lesson was and instead focused on studying other subjects whilst their ghost professor, Professor Binns. The ghost droned on and on about goblin wars. Neville and Harry were convinced by Corvus to sit close together so they could discuss and study other subjects.

They made the most out of the lesson.

Harry hadn't been too pleased with the History of Magic. He had been enthralled by the History of the wizarding world, it was such a let-down for Harry.

Next, they had Professor Flitwick, a charms teacher. A diminutive little wizard who stood on a pile of books to see over his desk. The professor's stature did not diminish his charisma when it came to teaching the subject. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled off his pile of book and out of sight.

Charms had simply been practising wand movements because Harry and Corvus were much further ahead than their peers, they helped Neville with the practice because they knew his nerves would affect his performance badly. They corrected his wand movements and gently encouraged him. It was what the boy needed. Corvus knew Neville was a brave person inside but unless certain events occurred to force that bravery out of him, there were few other ways to coax the boy's courage and bravery out. Corvus knew that this would be the best method to do so.

Transfiguration was again different. Harry had been quite right to think Professor McGonagall was a teacher you didn't want to cross. Corvus laughed at Harry's description of the Transfigurations professor. He personally thought she was strict and scary.

They were given a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class. Corvus could understand why she would do such a thing. Transfigurations was a dangerous subject and unintentionally fooling around could cause fatal accidents. It was similar to Potions where students should listen to their professors lest they are injured by their foolishness.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." The woman glanced around the room, meeting all of the students' eyes.

She demonstrated a tiny piece of transfiguration for the students. She changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realised they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. Well, besides Corvus who was quite advanced in transfiguration for his young age.

After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only four people made a difference to their match. Hermione and Neville turned the match slightly silver and pointy. Harry and Corvus managed to turn their match into a needle completely. Professor McGonagall showed the class Harry's match how she wanted it to look like. She gave Harry a rare smile that seemed slightly sad. Professor McGonagall gave Harry and Corvus twenty house points. She looked at Corvus contemplatively when she noticed just how detailed his transformed match was. He had added an extra feature to his.

Corvus believed the professor had her suspicions concerning him. He had a feeling the professor knew he was using his metamorphmagus abilities to trick the entire school. Corvus was glad the professor nothing besides giving him a knowing look at the end of the first lesson.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was the class everybody had been looking forward to, even Harry. Corvus didn't have much of an opinion concerning the class besides telling Harry and Neville just how much of a joke the professor for the class was. Fred and George helped confirmed how terribly bad the lessons would be for them. They hadn't been joking when they said how much of a joke the lessons would be.

Professor Quirrell smelled strongly of garlic. The stench permeated throughout the room. The Weasley twins insisted that the turban Professor Quirrell wore was stuffed full of garlic so that he would be protected wherever he went. In the lesson, Professor Quirrell stuttered so often that the class quickly became unbearable. Corvus convinced Harry and Neville to use their time creatively, the same way they used their time during History of Magic lessons.

Neville was relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else. Harry, himself, had panicked about being worse than everyone else but after the first few lessons and with Corvus's assurances, he knew that he and Corvus were in fact ahead of everybody else. But even then, their advantages didn't help them too much. There was so much to learn that even those that had been surrounded by magic their entire life didn't have much of a head start. Harry and Corvus simply had more knowledge in their favourite subjects because they had focused the majority of their time going through those subjects.

 **-Line Break-**

Friday was an important day. They were having their first Potions class, and it was with the Slytherins. Harry noticed the tension between the two houses but never thought much about it.

The three were sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast when the mail arrived. Hundreds of owls streamed into the Great Hall, circling the tables until they saw their owners, dropping letters and packages onto their laps.

Hedwig hadn't brought Harry or Corvus anything so far. Hedwig was fond of Corvus. Harry had allowed Corvus to send letters to his family with her. Sometimes Hedwig flew into the Great Hall to nibble both their ears and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. Corvus usually brought Thor with him to the Great Hall during the weekends. Hedwig and Thor had formed a strange bond with each other and played together whenever they had a chance.

This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Corvus's bed of hair.

"Sometimes, I feel like Hedwig favours me more than he does you," said Corvus, smearing apple jam over his toast.

Harry tore the letter open. "I feel the same way." Harry read the letter which was written in a very untidy scrawl:

Dear Harry, I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?

Bring Corvus along and any other friends that you've made, I want to hear all about your first week. Send me an answer back with Hedwig.

Hagrid

Harry borrowed Neville's quill, scribbling 'Yes, please, we'll see you later.' on the back of the note, sending Hedwig off to Hagrid.

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder in the dungeons than up in the main castle. The dungeon had a creepy atmosphere, especially with the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Harry had been looking forward to Potions, no matter how much Professor Snape disliked him.

Snape started the class by taking the roll call. Like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah... Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new celebrity."

Harry resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at the tone the professor said his surname in.

Corvus watched Draco Malfoy and his friends, Crabbe and Goyle snigger behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were onyx black, similar to Hagrid's, but they held none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty, reminiscent of dark tunnels. Corvus shivered whenever his eyes accidentally met Professor Snape's eyes. He was glad the professor had no reason to use legilimency on him.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word. Like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect any of you to really understand the beauty of a softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death." Professor Snape glanced at the students. "But only if you aren't a bunch of dunderheads like the ones I usually have to teach."

Silence followed his little speech. Harry and Corvus had been enraptured by the man's speech. The professor managed to make Potions class even more interesting than it already was. Harry was on the edge of his seat, desperate to start barraging the professor with questions relating to the subject. Corvus held him back, shaking his head.

Corvus mouthed, 'No, wait until the end of the lesson before you ask him anything.' Harry nodded his head.

"Potter!" said Professor Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry cleared his throat after feeling like a cat had got his tongue. Without looking at Corvus, who he knew was definitely trying to encourage him, answered the question. "You would get a sleeping potion, Sir."

The professor had a furious expression on his face. "And what's the name of the sleeping potion?"

"I don't know... I'm not that advanced in my reading on Potions yet."

Professor Snape glared at Harry, his lips curling into a sneer. "Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death. This potion can stopper death."

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without leaving her seat.

"You would find a bezoar in the stomach of a goat."

"Last question. What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Harry raced through the memory palace he had built for potion ingredients. He knew the answer to the question but he couldn't quite remember the answer. He finally remembered a page in the ingredients book he was reading.

"There's no difference between the two. They're the same plant and is also known as Aconite," said Harry quickly, looking at Draco and his friends who had stopped laughing after he answered.

Snape was silent for a moment. "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?" He glanced around the dungeon, seeing that nobody was taking any notes. "Three points to Gryffindor for correctly answering my questions," said Snape. He didn't look at Harry.

After the affair, Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticising almost everyone except Malfoy, Harry and Corvus. Harry was working together with Neville, and without Snape breathing down his neck, Neville was able to do most of the work himself with Harry instructing him on the side. Corvus was partnered with Hermione, who seemed to know what she was doing. They assigned each other roles and finished the potion without any issue.

Nothing else happened in the Potions class. Harry didn't seem to mind Professor Snape's attitude since the man avoided him like the plague after he finished questioning him.

Corvus paid much more attention to Professor Snape than Harry did. He watched the Professor look at Harry with sorrowful eyes. He could guess what the man was thinking about. _'He must be thinking about his mother.'_

The more talent Harry showed when it came to Potions, the more he would resemble his mother. It was one of the reasons why Snape kept sneaking glances at Harry's eyes. The Potions Professor didn't look anywhere else. Why would he? Why would he want to be reminded of his past tormentor?

Potions finished and Snape dismissed the entire class.

Harry was dragging Neville and Corvus out of the castle, making their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. Corvus had Harry stop at their dorm so he could take Thor along to Hagrid's. He knew Hagrid had a dog. Corvus felt that Thor would need another playmate.

When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang, back." Hagrid's big hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open. "Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang." He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.

"It's all right Hagrid, I think he just wants to play," said Corvus. Thor barked excitedly. "See, I think Thor here wants to play as well."

They walked into the hut. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from a ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Corvus. Fang licked Corvus and Thor. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked. Once Corvus had enough of his face being licked, he let go of Thor. Thor bounded up to Fang and they ran out of the hut. "They'll come back."

"This is Neville," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

"Longbottom?" asked Hagrid, glancing at the boy. "I'm really sorry about what happened to yer parents." Neville looked down at his lap.

"Yeah... how do you know about my parents?" Neville asked in a soft tone.

"I'm a good friend of yer parents. Terrible. Very terrible what happened to them." Hagrid shook his head.

Harry's curiosity was acting up again, but this time he managed to restrain himself from asking. He knew that he shouldn't push when it came to other people's pasts. He figured that Neville would eventually tell them of his own accord.

Neville winced as he bit into the rock cake. The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth. They pretended to enjoy the cakes as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons.

After staying at Hagrid's for two hours, the trio left the hut and went back to their common room. There were going to review what they had learnt. It was something they did after each day.


	14. Argument

Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy. Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday — and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"Why do they have us attend so many lessons with the Slytherins? Especially the ones where tensions would be highest." Harry asked Corvus and Neville as they walked down to the Great Hall. He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else but he wasn't sure if he would enjoy it much now that he knew they were having lessons with the Slytherins.

Corvus shrugged. "Maybe the professors don't know what's happening."

Harry snorted. "Doubtful. You've seen how obvious it is. If we've noticed it within a week of lessons then they definitely know about it.

Neville kept silent.

"So what do you think about flying, Neville? I know your grandmother has never let you on a broomstick but you have to be excited at least, right?" He looked at Neville.

"Well... I don't know..." Neville trailed off. "I have enough accidents as it is when I'm standing on my feet on flat ground. I don't think flying would be any better." Corvus laughed.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. You're clumsy because you are so nervous all the time. You've had fewer accidents since you started gaining some confidence." Corvus patted Neville's back. "Come on, don't be too afraid of flying. I bet Harry over here is a natural." He pointed his thumb at Harry. "He can teach both of us."

They sat down at the Great Hall, watching the owls fly in. "Look, Neville, isn't that your owl?" Harry pointed at an owl which was heading for them.

"Yeah, it is." The owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke. "It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knew that I forget things a lot. But I don't need it anymore. Both of you have helped me tremendously when it comes to organisation. The Remembrall tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. It's great for decoration purposes but I don't think I'm going to use it."

"Just thank your gran in the next letter you send her," Harry said.

Neville was about to put the Rememberall on the table when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched it out of his hand.

Harry was acting on instinct and was about to attack Draco Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the castle, was there in a flash.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

"Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

 **-Line Break-**

At three-thirty in the afternoon, the Gryffindors and Slytherins hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson.

"How do broomsticks work? What makes them fly?" Corvus asked.

"Cor, calm yourself. I doubt an explanation on how broomsticks work would help you very much. It's probably so complicated that even with an explanation, we'd still be confused."

Neville laughed. "Yeah, there's a lot there goes into broomsticks," said Neville. "Gran said that the broomstick business is massive."

It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

There were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them would vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. "I don't think they've been replaced for a very long time," he said.

"Fred and George did say they were bad. Didn't think they would be this bad." Corvus examined his own broom.

"You would think this school would replace their brooms especially when they are supposed to be used for flying," Harry said. "It's not very safe."

Their conversation was interrupted by Madam Hooch. "Stick out your right hand over your broom," Madam Hooch loudly called at the front, "and say, Up!"

"Up!" everyone shouted.

Corvus's broom jumped into his hand at once, which surprised him. But he guessed that his confidence toward flying helped. Neville was having some trouble with his broom. His wasn't moving at all. Harry, whose broom had flown into his hand immediately, was helping Neville. Corvus noted a quaver in Neville's voice that clearly said he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. They heard Madam Hooch tell Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle! Three! Two!-"

Neville's nerves had gotten the better of him. He pushed off hard before the whistle was even close to Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle -twelves feet - twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and heard a loud thud and nasty crack. Neville was lying facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher. It started to drift of lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.

"Neville, are you all right?" asked Corvus. Harry and Corvus were kneeling by Neville's side-faster than Madam Hooch could move.

"Ugh," Neville answered with a groan.

"Move away, give me space." She pushed everyone away from Neville. "Broken wrist," she muttered. "Come on, boy- it's all right, up you get." She turned to the rest of the class. "None of you are to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Neville, his fear tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, glancing behind at Corvus and Harry apologetically as he did.

The moment they were out of earshot Malfoy burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

Parvati clenched her jaw, glaring at Pansy with venom in her look. She turned away to talk to her friends.

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward to snatch something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Harry finally had enough of the boy's attitude towards others. Too often did Draco Malfoy aggravate him.

Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Corvus sighed. _'Damn it, I was too slow. I knew this was going to happen.'_ He ran his hands over his face, groaning. _'Even if I know that Harry's not going to be injured, still doesn't feel right in letting this occur in the first place.'_

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about"-Malfoy turned to a tall tree-"up a tree?" Malfoy smiled nastily.

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well.

Hovering level with the topmost branches of the tree he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom.

"Harry, you don't want to do that. You don't want to be expelled do you, Harry?" Corvus asked. Even though he knew that pleading with Harry would be useless, he still had to try to stop this entire event from even happening.

"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Listen to Corvus and Madam Hooch! She told us not to move, you'll get us all into trouble." Both Harry and Corvus rolled their eyes. She still cared about herself.

Harry ignored her. Anger was clouding his judgment and he wasn't going to listen to reason. He heard Corvus attempts to convince him but he just couldn't hold it in anymore. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he sored; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him. In a rush of fierce joy, he realised he'd found something he could do without being taught. _'Flying's so easy. This is exhilarating and wonderful.'_ He narrowed his eyes. _'But I need to concentrate on what's important.'_ He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground. He only saw Corvus shaking his head.

' _Well, there goes my plan of having Harry focus on just his studies. It's going to be hard to keep him out of trouble during Quidditch but I guess I can prevent most of the accidents because I know when and where they are going to happen.'_ Corvus was silent as he watched Harry in the air, about to perform his death-defying stunt.

Harry turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned. "Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but instead he looked worried.

Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.

The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.

"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.

Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down — next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball — wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching — he stretched out his hand — a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

"HARRY POTTER!"

His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. He got to his feet, trembling.

"Never — in all my time at Hogwarts–"

Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, " — how dare you — might have broken your neck–"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor–"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil–"

"But Malfoy–" Ron cut in.

"That's enough, Mr Weasley. Potter, follow me, now. "

Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it. He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up. Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks. He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. What would Corvus's family say when he turned up on their doorstep?

Harry knew exactly what he had done wrong. But he still didn't want to be expelled. _'I'm so dead when Cor gets his hands on me. It doesn't matter whether Professor McGonagall expels me at this point, Cor is going to wrap his hands around my neck and strangle me.'_ He shivered as they walked up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Corvus and Neville becoming wizards, while he stomped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.

Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.

"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"

Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him?

But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.

"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry.

"In here. "

Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.

"Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys.

"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood — I've found you a Seeker. "

Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.

"Are you serious, Professor?"

"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"

Harry nodded silently. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't seem to be being expelled, and he could start to feel his legs.

"He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it. "

Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.

"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.

"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.

"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light — speedy — we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor — a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say. "

"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks... "

Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.

"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you. "

Then she suddenly smiled.

"Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself. "

 **-Line Break-**

"I don't want to hear about how you got rewarded for something that would've had you expelled, Harry." Corvus picked at his food.

"I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret. "

"Have you seen Neville at least and said something to him? Or have you been busy thinking about Quidditch the entire time?" asked Corvus.

Harry looked offended. "I thought you would be happy with me not being expelled. I'm even playing for our house team now!" Harry started to rise from his seat.

"A position you got by risking yourself." Harry stopped cold. "Harry. What Professor McGonagall did, wasn't right. She was desperate. Even you heard her. In normal circumstances, you would've been expelled. Don't count on that luck of yours to save you every time. You risked your life doing that stunt. Yes, the Remembrall was Neville's but don't you remember Neville saying it wasn't of much use to him? We had witnesses who saw what happened. They would've explained to Professor Hooch what happened." He pointed to himself. "I would've told her what had happened. If multiple students have the same story, then Malfoy was bound to get in trouble."

"I wasn't injured so everything is fine. I get to play Quidditch, don't you think that's amazing? Flying is so amazing." Harry had a dreamy gaze.

"Yes, flying is amazing but I still want you to be careful. And there is absolutely no way that you will neglect your studies in order to play Quidditch. I'm going to make sure that you will be on top of every single assignment that you have. No slacking off. We have a set schedule with Neville and we're going to keep it that way. Your Quidditch training won't interfere with what we already have planned."

"Why are you so adamant about keeping to our schedule?" asked Harry. "We are already ahead in our studies."

Corvus raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Our advantage can be rendered useless." He shook his head. "Look, Hermione Granger, that girl? She can catch up to us in no time. I thought you wanted to be at the top of our year. You can't do that if you don't dedicate yourself to our studies."

Harry shook his head. "Of course I can do it. We're already ahead of the first-year curriculum. It should be rather easy for us."

Corvus threw his hands up. "That's what you think. Just wait for a month or two and then you'll realise just how arrogant you're being." He stopped talking

Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.

"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too — Beaters. "

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us. "

"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school. "

"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you. "

Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting on the next train out of Hogwarts?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Malfoy, don't be stupid. A wizard's duel has to be overseen by a professor. No sane professor would allow a wizard's duel to occur at midnight. This is just a ploy to get us in trouble." Corvus gave a cold look to Malfoy.

Malfoy clicked his tongue and moved away.

"Excuse me. "

They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.

"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying but I must say that I am very proud of you for not foolishly losing us house points."

"It's really none of your business," said Harry, his mood not the best after arguing with Corvus.

"That's all I wanted to say, goodbye." The girl lifted her head and walked away.

"What is a wizard's duel, Cor?" asked Harry.

Corvus stayed silent.

"Cor?" Harry poked his friend.

"Cor?" Harry continued to poke him.

"What do you want?" Corvus asked snappishly.

"I asked you what a wizard duel was."

Corvus didn't turn to speak to his friend. "And why do you want to know what it is?"

"Because I want to know how Malfoy was planning to get us into trouble?" asked Harry.

"He was planning to get you in trouble with the professors by having you out of our dormitory after curfew."

Harry stared at his friend blankly. "That doesn't answer my question."

Corvus sighed. "It does answer your question, it only depends on which question you were asking me to answer. I answered your second question."

"What second question? I only asked one question."

Corvus laughed. "Oh no, Harry. You asked two questions."

"Just answer the first bloody question I asked you!" They were close to shouting at each other.

"Fine! A wizard's duel is a formal fight between two or more wizards and witches. Only magic can be used during the duel. Is my explanation satisfactory or do you still plan on harassing me?"

"I don't see what problem you have with me, Cor!"

"Then you must be very blind." Corvus left the Gryffindor table, left the Great Hall and walked back to his dorm.

Harry blinked owlishly at the spot Corvus had been sitting in. "What happened to him?" He returned to his meal and began talking to a few students he didn't usually speak with.


	15. Broom

The next day, the owls flooded into the Great Hall, as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky because it said:

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.

It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session.

Professor McGonagall

Harry had difficulty hiding his glee.

Corvus rolled his eyes at his friend's behaviour. His anger had faded over the night. He knew Harry was going to be reckless yet he had become so angry at Harry's nonchalant dismissal over his death-defying experience. How was he going to keep Harry safe from all of his future troubles if the boy didn't even bother thinking about his studies? The reason why Harry was in so much trouble during the books was that he had never been prepared. He had known what the right thing to do was but Harry's 'saving people thing' always seemed to blind him. Corvus wasn't sure whether he would always be there for Harry. ' _Agh... I'll just deal with the present. Fucking hell, Harry. I thought you learnt better than that during the time you spent with me.'_

Corvus noticed just how much trouble Harry had with keeping his mind on his lessons. He was probably thinking about his new broom. He and Neville followed Harry.

Neville had no idea why Corvus was so silent today.

'Yeah... not going to forgive Harry just yet. Still angry about the fact he's treating his studies so carelessly the moment Quidditch is introduced to his life.'

Harry rushed through dinner, gaining curious looks from several students. Corvus picked up a plate and grabbed several sandwiches to put on it. He was going to enjoy his food whilst he was following Harry about. Harry rushed upstairs to their dorm to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last.

"Wow," Harry sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto his bedspread.

Even though he knew nothing about different brooms, he thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and the words Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.

"I do hope that you won't neglect your studies," Corvus said, throwing his body onto Harry's bed. The broomstick bounced slightly.

Harry sighed. "I told you I would never neglect my studies."

"Come back in time for our study session."

"Why don't you follow me to the Quidditch field. Then you will see what you are missing.

Corvus looked at Neville, who shrugged at him. "Quidditch is pretty amazing. I have always dreamt of playing..."

Corvus looked resigned. "Fine, I'll go to your practise session. If your captain says anything then it's on you. Just follow me to the kitchen, I need to return this plate."

"Kitchen?" Harry tilted his head. "Now that you mentioned it... where are the kitchens?"

"Oh... somewhere," Corvus replied without giving anything away. He smirked.

 **-Line Break-**

As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry, Corvus and Neville left the kitchens and set off towards the Quidditch field. The grounds weren't well lit. They'd never been inside the stadium before but with the directions Oliver Wood gave Harry, they were able to arrive at the stadium safely.

Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end-fifty feet high.

Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling — he swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch.

"Harry, I think you should wait for your captain before you start flying! I won't be able to save you from down here!" Corvus called out. Harry ignored him.

He continued flying until another voice shouted. "Hey, Potter, come down!" Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him.

"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant... you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week." He crossed his arms. "I thought I told you to keep the training a secret, we don't need no spies."

"Ah... uh..." Harry didn't know what to say.

"It's okay, Captain Wood. Harry told us you'd be fine with his watching." Neville stayed quiet. Corvus always did the talking when they were in trouble.

Oliver looked at Corvus contemplatively. "As long as nobody else knows about how we train, you can watch."

He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.

"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."

"Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.

"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"

"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So — that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"

"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.

"Never mind," said Harry quickly.

"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper — I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring. "

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box.

"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this. "

He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.

"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers. "

He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.

"Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking his nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air — it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.

"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team — the Weasley twins are ours — it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So — think you've got all that?"

"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off.

"Very good," said Wood.

"Er — have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand.

"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers–"

"– unless they crack my head open."

"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers — I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."

Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.

"This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages — I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep."

"Well, that's it, any questions?"

Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.

"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."

He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.

Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.

"That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

Corvus and Neville had been very quiet the entire session. They whispered to each other with a book in between them. Neville had taken a Herbology textbook with him and was discussing cultivation methods with Corvus. "Has the session finished?" asked Neville as Harry walked up to the pair. Harry was drenched completely in sweat.

"Yeah, so tired. If this the type of training we have all the time, then I'm going to be so tired," said Harry, wiping himself with a towel Corvus just handed to him.

"Told you, Quidditch is time-consuming. It's possible for you to neglect your studies with all the training that your Quidditch Captain wants you to do," said Corvus. He grimaced as the towel Harry had just used to wipe his sweat was thrown at him. "Seriously? Now I stink like you." He held the towel away from his body. "Yeah... you keep this towel. You can use it from now on."

They left the stadium and headed back for the common room. "You shower first, Harry. Neville and I will be out here setting up our books." Corvus pointed to a desk. "It's Saturday, so we can study for two hours before we need to sleep."

Harry groaned. "I'm too tired to study!"

"Corvus isn't going to let you sleep," Neville said suddenly. "Trust me." He shuddered.

Screams could be heard from the Gryffindor common room late that night.

 **-Line Break-**

"So how exactly did-"

"You find the kitchens?" The twins asked.

"Not many people-"

"Know about where the kitchens are," George said, nodding along with his brother. They were suspicious of how quick Corvus was when it came to finding hidden places in the castle.

Corvus scratched his neck. "I asked a house-elf where the kitchens were. You'd be surprised to find how much the house-elves know about hidden places in Hogwarts."

Fred and George nodded. "Yes, yes. Very smart. Do you think the house-elves would help us play a prank? We only ever ask them for food."

Corvus shrugged. "They would help you as long as they know the pranks are harmless. If they aren't harmless then they will report you to a professor."

Fred grinned. "George, there are so many plans that we have yet to act upon because we never thought we would be able to pull off such big pranks."

George smirked. "Thank you, Corvus. This will help us very much."

The twins disappeared from the kitchens, skipping as they left.

A yawn could be heard "What was that all about?" Neville asked.

"Nothing." Corvus shook his head. "What's first on our agenda today?"

"Uhh, nothing really. We've already finished all of the assignments given to us by the professors. The only important thing we have today is our study session." Neville replied.

"Hmm, plenty of time today. Do you have to train with for Quidditch today, Harry?" asked Corvus.

His question was met with silence. "Harry?" Corvus looked around. "Where's Harry?"

"Last I checked, he was still in the toilet washing up when we left," Neville told Harry.

"Isn't he always the first one who finishes up in the toilet?"

"He woke up later than us this morning."

Corvus snorted. "Guess Quidditch tired him out more than I thought it would."

The pair stopped speaking for the next minutes so they could finish breakfast. "Come on, we can drag Harry to the kitchens so he can eat breakfast." Corvus grabbed Neville by the arm and pulled him all the way to their room where they found Harry lying on his bed, stroking his broom.

"That's not something I want to see.

 **-Author's Note-**

 **Don't even know what I'm writing this chapter. Just think of it as a... happier chapter that I wrote whilst I was off my rocks. (Not really)**


	16. Questions for the Professors

"My younger brother, I write to you to remind you to keep up on your daily practice with your metamorphmagus abilities. If your control over your ability has degraded, be sure of bodily harm once you return. I've sent along some books that may interest you and Harry. Have fun! The best sister, Dora." Corvus read out the letter he received. He held the letter in his hand and tapped his palm with it.

"Sometimes your sister is scarier than you are," said Harry.

"What do you mean scary? I'm not scary." Corvus raised an eyebrow at Harry. "And her reminder is very helpful. I've forgotten to use my abilities for the past two weeks. I've stayed in your appearance for two weeks. Ugh." Corvus looked disgusted. He changed into his base form. "Yes... so much more comfortable looking like myself."

Harry crossed his arms. "Are you sure you still want to keep up the facade? I've been gaining even more attention than before now that the information of me becoming the youngest seeker in a century has gotten out to the rest of the students."

"I've told you before, I'll continue to take on your appearance until the attention dies down," said Corvus.

Neville walked out of the toilet to see the two silent boys staring at each other. "Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"Oh, nothing," said Corvus. "Neville, have you noticed something different about me?"

Neville tilted his head as he thought of things that changed about Corvus. "Your voice is different?" He was unsure. "Uh... I don't know what else is different about you."

Corvus facepalmed. "Well, you at least noticed the change in my voice, but, I'd like you to take a good look at me. Just look at me, and tell me what you see."

Neville examined Corvus, his mouth widening into an O-shape. "Ohh..." He closed his mouth quickly when he realised he was staring. "How'd you manage to change your appearance?"

Corvus sighed. "I'm sure I've told you about my metamorphmagus abilities, Neville. I've been posing as Harry for the past two weeks. Have you not noticed how Harry's not wearing the glasses he was wearing on the train and during the Sorting?"

Neville nodded dumbly. "Yeah... I-I n-never thought about it before? I always pegged Harry's appearance as your normal appearance. I mean... Harry looks so different without his glasses. And even when you told me about your metamorphmagus abilities and your sister, I never really thought about how you could change your appearance."

"Well, now you know." He gestured to his body. "This is my normal voice and appearance, remember it. I'll be changing appearances more often because I need to practice with my abilities anyway. I could practice by changing into your appearance."

Neville looked pale. "I don't think you should do that. I would be too c-confused by it."

Corvus sighed again-something that he seemed to be doing too often. He turned to Harry. "You're going to be in the spotlight for a while longer. I'm certain that Ron has seen your broom when we brought it in after your training. Pretty sure he's already pestered Fred and George for the details."

Harry looked sick. "Do you mind taking on my appearance?"

"How many times do you need to ask me? I'll give you the same answer every time, I will continue to do so as long as you want me to."

Harry nodded. "Thank you, Cor."

"What kind of punishment do you think my sister would come up for me?" asked Corvus.

"..." Harry didn't answer. He shrugged when Corvus glanced at him for an answer. "No idea, probably something sadistic. She's been accepted into that programme she's always talked about right?"

"Yeah, she has. She's going to be a lot busier, we probably won't be seeing much of her during the holidays."

Neville watered a plant he had been growing. "What programme did your sister get accepted into?"

"Auror Programme, lasts for three years," Corvus answered Neville.

"Wow... she m-m-must be really smart huh." Neville looked downcast. "G-Gran wants me to be an Auror when I grow up, but I don't think I have what it takes to be one." He looked at his hands shakily.

Corvus patted Neville's back. "Not everyone has what it takes to be an Auror. Doesn't mean that you aren't talented, Neville. What your Gran wants, doesn't have to be what you want. I think..." He stopped as if he was hesitating to say something. "your grandmother wants you to be like your father. And her decision to give you your father's wand instead of your own was because she loved him so, so much. So much that she couldn't let go."

A tear slid down Neville's cheek.

"I think you should pursue what you want to do. I know... I know that your grandmother is someone you love, but you have to live your life for yourself." Corvus patted Neville's cheek and wiped away the tears from his eyes. "Harry and I will be going to see Professor Snape, would you like to come with us?"

Neville nodded. "I-I-I will stay here and go to the Great Hall after I've c-composed myself."

Both boys nodded and left the room. Neville was glad that nobody else in the room was awake yet. The perks of waking up early.

 _'Is it not okay to live my life the way Gran wants me to? Corvus has talked to me about my family issues before but... it feels like I'm betraying my parents if I don't try to honour their memory.'_ He walked back into the toilet to wash away all the evidence. He knew the cold water hitting his face would help him calm down.

 **-Line Break-**

"Don't you think that it was rather sudden to bring such a topic up with Neville?"

"Not really. I've been meaning to say something about his situation between him and his grandmother ever since I heard the stories concerning his relatives. I've talked to him about my concerns about his family before so I knew he wouldn't lash out in anger."

Harry shook his head. "It was still rather quick to bring up his problems."

"Harry, on the very first day we met, we talked about our own family issues. Plus, Neville's much stronger than you think he is. He can handle what I just said to him."

"Do you think he'll be fine by the time we get to the Great Hall?"

"Nope, he'll probably go to the greenhouses and help Professor Sprout with some of the plants. He always goes there to think about things. It's where he feels safest in the school."

Harry smiled wryly. "I don't understand how you seem to know everything. It's amazing how you do it but it is creepy. Don't you think?"

He put a finger to his lips. "Trade secret." He smirked. "And it's not creepy. I just... like to make sure I know a lot about my friends."

"You don't think it's strange?"

Corvus put his hands on his head. "Nope."

Harry had nothing else to say to that. "What do you think Professor Snape is going to say when we show up at his office unannounced?" Snape's office was in the dungeons.

"He'd probably scream us out of his office, but not before he hears what we have to say. Professor Snape isn't unreasonable, he just hates you."

"Wow, Cor. Totally did not notice the hatred he has for me." He rubbed his eyebrow. "At least the venom in his looks are no longer there," said Harry.

"Well, instead of him looking at you like he totally he hates you, he instead stares at you like he's lost something."

"Lost something? What do you think he's lost?"

"No clue." Corvus shrugged. _'Your mother, Harry. He lost your mother.'_

They had reached Snape's office. "You knock on the door, Harry. You're going to be the one who is asking him the questions."

"Fine." Harry knocked on Snape's door.

"Come in," A voice called from inside.

The two entered, closing the door behind them quietly.

"Excuse me, Sir," Harry started.

"What are you doing in my office, Potter? If this is part of a foolish prank you wish to play on me, then I will save you the time and tell you that whatever you have planned, will not work." Professor's Snape's soft voice could be heard throughout the room. His voice was cold and hard, unlike the usual tone his voice took during class time.

"Uh..." Harry didn't know what to say. The man had completely surprised him with what he had just said.

"Sorry, Sir. Harry and I aren't here to play a prank on you. We only wanted to ask you some questions concerning his mother."

The man looked up from the papers he was correcting. "His mother?" He stared into Corvus's eyes. "Wait... Why do you look like Potter?"

Corvus grinned weakly. _'Should've known the person who hated James Potter the most would realise I had the same appearance as Harry.'_ He wrung his hands. "Name's Corvus Tonks," said Corvus as if introducing himself would be enough of an explanation for the man.

The man laced his fingers together and laid his elbows on the desk. "Metamorphmagus just like your sister?"

Corvus nodded.

"That's rare. Must be a family trait now. Curious." Professor Snape continued to stare at Corvus. "Turn back to your original appearance."

Corvus complied. He changed back into his base form.

"Yes... I can see the similarities now." Professor Snape's eyes turned hard suddenly. "I hope you weren't planning on playing pranks like your sister."

Corvus blushed. _'Damn, should've controlled my reaction._ '

"Ten points from Gryffindor for thinking about playing pranks on others in the future." The Potions teacher smirked. "I'd also like for the two of you to leave my office. I do not know where you heard about me knowing your mother, but there is nothing I will say to you or Potter. Leave. Now!" He raised his voice when the boys still didn't move.

Corvus held Harry's body close to him, preventing him from leaving the room. "No. Professor Snape, Harry came here for answers. He's not going to leave until he gets those answers." Corvus dragged a chair across the floor and sat on it, drawing the man's attention.

"There is no reason for me to speak. Leave. Otherwise, you'll be in detention with me for the rest of the term."

Corvus looked at Harry, shaking his head. He got up from the chair and dragged Harry out of the office with him. Corvus closed the door quickly. "Sorry, Harry. Don't want to stay there any longer. We can ask him again next time," he whispered.

Harry shook his head. "No, it's fine. I don't need the answers immediately. Hagrid said there were others who knew them just as well, right?"

"Well, you can ask for stories from some of the professors that I'm very certain were here during the time your mother and father went to Hogwarts."

"Like who?" asked Harry

Corvus began listing the people he knew had been in Hogwarts at the time. "There's Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, Professor Dumbledore-"

"Not Professor Dumbledore, please."

Corvus's eyebrows rose to his hairline. _'Well, that's interesting. Why wouldn't Harry want to ask Professor Dumbledore about his parents? Oh well.'_ He continued to list the rest of the people he could think of. "Professor Binns, don't think he's going to be of any help. Professor Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creature Professor. Professor Sprout and uh... I don't think there's anybody else."

"Which teacher do you want to go find first?" asked Harry.

"That's your choice."

"Hmm... I think we should ask Professor McGonagall first. Hagrid has already told us all of his stories. Professor McGonagall was their house head when they were at school, right?"

"Yep," said Corvus.

Then Harry stopped walking. "How about we go eat breakfast and then look for Neville. He can ask Professor McGonagall about his own parents as well. I'm rather hungry."

Corvus placed his hands on his head. "Whatever suits you."

Corvus took on Harry's appearance once again. They headed for the Great Hall, finished their breakfast and walked towards the greenhouses where they knew Neville would be.

 **-Line Break-**

"Hey, Neville!" Corvus called out to the boy who was tending a plant their class had recently been introduced to.

"Oh, hi Corvus..." Neville looked down at his gloves.

"Have you already eaten?" asked Harry.

"Yeah... I came out here to..." Neville didn't need to finish his sentence since Corvus and Harry knew why he was here.

"Is Professor Sprout here? Our little questioning session with Professor Snape didn't last long," Corvus asked Neville.

Neville looked up from his gloves and pointed towards another area in the greenhouse. "She's over there, somewhere hidden by the plants."

"Thanks, Neville." Harry jerked his chin towards where Neville pointed. "You go ask your questions, Harry. I'll talk to Neville for a while."

Harry went to where Professor Sprout was hidden.

Once Harry was out of earshot, Corvus turned to Neville. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to upset you earlier."

"No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah... I've had some time to think about what you said. I... What you said was correct. I think it's about time for me to live my life for myself. I've been doing everything my Gran wanted, and never thought about what I wanted to do for myself. Do you think it's sad?" Neville was nearly in tears again.

"Don't cry please, Neville." Corvus pleaded the boy not to. "Let me tell you this. Living for others is perfectly fine, but for your entire life? That's not okay. Your Gran may want you to be exactly the same as your father, but you don't want that for yourself do you?"

Neville nodded.

"You said you wanted to honour your father's memory." Neville nodded again. "There are multiple ways for you to honour his memory. And living your life to the fullest, and not for your grandmother's sake is one of them. Stop worrying about what your grandmother wants." Corvus reached into Neville's robes to take out his wand. "This is a problem that you must solve immediately. There's a very good reason why you're having trouble with magic compared to the rest. You work much, much harder than the rest, that much is true, right?"

"Yeah..." Neville said weakly.

"Your wand is the cause of most of your problems. It's not your own wand, is it?" He waved Neville's wand around.

"H-How did you know? I have never told anybody about it."

"Neville... I've tried to use Harry's wand before. I know what it's like to use a wand that is not my own."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. I think we should tell a Professor that you need to get a new wand. Immediately. You are not going to use the same wand until the end of the year."

"But who should we ask?"

"I'm sure Professor McGonagall can arrange something."

"What about my Gran? If she finds out I'm not using dad's wand, she's going to kill me."

"Trust me. Professor McGonagall will have something to say to her if she attempts something like that."

Neville nodded. "Okay... when should we ask Professor McGonagall?"

"How about today? As you said, it's not like we have anything on our schedule."

"Okay..."

"Go back to your plants, Neville. I'll check on Harry. We'll call you when we leave."


	17. Uneventful Halloween

Perhaps it was because they were so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework and studies with Corvus and Neville, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realized that he'd already been at Hogwarts two months. His lessons were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics. Though most of the things they covered in classes had already been gone over during their study sessions, this meant that they finished most of their assignments in class very quickly.

Neville, with his new wand, was just as able as Corvus and Harry when it came to magic. He was no longer lagging behind his two friends and instead they were all equal though they had advantages over each other in certain subjects. Harry was the best when it came to Potions. Neville was the best when it came to Herbology. And Corvus was the best with Transfiguration.

The confrontation that happened between Professor McGonagall and Neville's grandmother, Augusta Longbottom was spectacular and had drawn lots of attention. Neville was extremely embarrassed by his grandmother's behaviour but he had known that this would happen sooner or later. He was just glad he had his friends to help him through the entire ordeal.

On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something the trio had already managed to accomplish after a day of practice.

Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry was working with Neville whilst Corvus was working with Seamus Finnegan. Most of the pairs were working together without making a fuss.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest. "

Seamus got so impatient with Corvus's explanations that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to the feather— Corvus had to put it out by stamping on the feather. "You have to calm down, rushing to do something will never help you."

"Your explanations aren't helping!"

Corvus sighed. "Look, I'll demonstrate it again." He went through the wand motions. "Wingardium Leviosa." Corvus would've been able to levitate the feather without going through the wand motions but he knew that the demonstration would be useless otherwise. "Say it the same way I just did." He let Seamus attempt to levitate the feather again.

A similar scene was happening across the room.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione snapped. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Harry, Neville and Corvus raised their eyebrows simultaneously. Did Professor Flitwick not see them successfully casting the spell?

The lesson ended ten minutes after Hermione levitate the feather.

They watched Ron storm out of the class, pushing his way into the crowded corridor. "No wonder one can stand her. She's a nightmare," he said to himself.

Someone knocked into Corvus as they hurried past him. It was Hermione.

Harry caught a glimpse of her face, startled to see that she was in tears. "Hey, Cor. I'm going to chase after her."

"Come back in time for the next class!" Neville shouted to Harry's back. Harry showed no sign of hearing what Neville said.

Corvus placed his hand on Ron's shoulder and pulled him back. "Hey, there's a time and place to voice your opinions," he said to Ron. "You just made a girl cry. What do you have to say to that?" Corvus stared the red-headed boy down.

"So?" said Ron, he looked very uncomfortable with being questioned. "She must've noticed her attitude is what caused her to have no friends."

"Doesn't mean that it makes it right to upset her. When she comes back, I expect you to apologise to Hermione."

"What?" Ron was outraged. "I'm not apologising to her!"

"You know what? I'll just tell Professor McGonagall what happened. I'm sure she'd be very interested in why one of her smartest students is missing from her classes." Corvus placed his hands on his waist. "Don't worry. You won't be in much trouble."

The tension in Ron's shoulders disappeared. "Fine! I'll apologise to her when I next see her, all right?"

"I'll be asking her to see whether you apologised." Corvus gestured to Neville, they needed to get to their next class.

Hermione and Harry turned up for their next class ten minutes late. Professor McGonagall simply stared at the pair for a few seconds before leaving them with a few words: "I do hope nothing like this happens again. Both of you are some of the best students in the year. Don't be late again. Ever."

Hermione and Harry nodded swiftly. They would not be late to her classes ever again.

Harry took his seat on Corvus's right side. Hermione sat beside Neville

The class was in the middle of jotting notes on some basic Transfiguration theory. Hermione was furiously scribbling onto her notebook and wasn't paying attention to the three boys' conversation.

"So how'd you manage to get her to come back to class?" asked Corvus. "I was certain that she would be hiding from the rest of the school for the entire day."

Harry reviewed the notes he had taken. "I did things the same way you did."

"What do you mean the same way I did?"

Neville spoke up. "He means he uses the same methods you use to calm us down. They are very effective. I have seen them work time and time again."

"Oh well, at least she hasn't missed any lessons. I think she would be more devastated by missed lessons than what Ron had said to her," said Corvus.

He looked at Hermione before glancing at his own notes on the lesson.

 **-Line Break-**

They were on the way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. Ron looked extremely awkward as he approached Hermione to apologise. Hermione was speaking to Neville about some of their notes when Ron stopped in front of them.

"Uhm... I wanted to apologise for what I said to you this morning," Ron said.

Hermione held her head up high and sniffed. "I accept your apology, begone."

Ron muttered something underneath his breath but entered the Great Hall quickly.

"Hermione-"

"Yes?" The girl turned around to face Corvus.

"I think there's another reason why nobody wants to be your friend."

Hermione stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"The way you act towards others... won't help you if you want to make friends. Your holier-than-thou attitude is the reason why nobody wants to be your friend. People dislike feeling inferior to others. Most people that want to be your friends want to be treated as equals. If you wanted to make friends with such an attitude, then you were better off going to Ravenclaw. Only they will value your intelligence and book-smarts. But think about this carefully, would the Ravenclaws be able to accept you for long?"

Hermione was silent.

"Let's just celebrate Halloween. No need to think about this now," said Harry.

Everybody nodded.

They entered the Great Hall. The Halloween decorations could be seen all around the Great Hall.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Hermione and the three boys were enjoying some of the sweets on the table when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know. "

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy was in his element.

"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, the castle's supposed to be warded against external danger!" Hermione said as they rushed to follow Percy "Somebody must have brought the troll into the castle."

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. They jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs.

In a matter of minutes, they had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Pig snout," Percy said, ushering all the students into the common room.

The common room was packed and noisy. Food had been sent up the common room and some people were already beginning to eat the food.

 **-Line Break**

The boys were lying about in their room.

"That was an exciting Halloween." Corvus was cycling through different appearances. He was currently changing into all the appearances of the First-year students that he could remember.

"It definitely kept my mind off some of the depression."

Corvus glanced over at Harry. "Ah... go to sleep, Harry. There's no need to think about your parents after having such a great day."

Harry closed his eyes. "You're right. I'll see you tomorrow." Harry was all ready for bed. "Good night, Cor."

"Sleep tight, Harry." Corvus clumb into his own bed. _'Didn't think Harry would be so concerned about Halloween. I wonder if Neville is mourning as well?'_

The room fell silent quickly, all the first year boys tired out by the day's events.


	18. First Quidditch Match

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin boots.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship.

Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret. But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn't know which was worse — people telling him he'd be brilliant or people telling him they'd be running around underneath him holding a mattress. Only Corvus and Neville had seen just how good Harry was. Hermione refused to attend Harry's Quidditch training sessions, saying that it would waste her study time.

It was really lucky that Harry had Hermione, Corvus and Neville as friends. He didn't know how he'd have gotten through all his homework without them, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. Hermione had lent him Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a very interesting read. The moment Hermione found out about Quidditch, she had done her best to study everything about the sport. It didn't interest her even after she read about it.

Harry learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.

Hermione had become a bit more relaxed after Corvus had confronted her about her behaviour. She allowed others to speak and stopped flaunting her knowledge for everyone to see. She had begun to converse with her other roommates and was much happier than she had been before the confrontation.

The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break time.

Hermione had conjured them up two bright blue fires that could be carried around in jam jars. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping.

"Why is he limping?" asked Harry in a quiet voice.

"I don't know, maybe he fell down or something?" Neville whispered.

The group moved closer together to block the fire from view; they realised the fire probably wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?" His usual snarl was not present on his face?

It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor. "

"He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away. "But seriously, why is he limping?"

"Forget it, Harry. Just get the book back later," said Hermione, slightly annoyed that the Professor had taken the book.

-Line Break-

The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Corvus, Neville and Hermione sat together next to a window. They were going through each other's charm homework. Hermione wanted to be certain that they would get full marks on their homework. It was something not even Corvus could convince her to stop doing. Harry had asked them to check his homework whilst he was getting Quidditch Through the Ages back from Professor Snape.

Harry had an idea that Professor Snape wouldn't refuse him if there were other teachers listening. He made his way down to the staffroom and knocked.

There was no answer.

Harry knocked again. Nothing.

He pushed the door ajar and peered inside. A horrible scene met his eyes.

Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.

"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but —

"POTTER!"

Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped.

"I just wondered if I could have my book back. "

"GET OUT! OUT!"

Harry left before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. He sprinted back upstairs.

In a low whisper, Harry told them what he'd seen.

Hermione's eyes were wide. "Harry, what are you thinking about?"

"I have a feeling that Professor Snape attempted to get into the forbidden corridor Professor Dumbledore warned us away from," said Harry

Corvus knew what Harry was thinking. "Harry, if you even THINK about stepping a single foot into that corridor, you should know that you have a terrible, terrible punishment waiting for you."

"I wasn't thinking about going into the forbidden corridor, Cor. You should know me better than that. I would never break the rules, especially when it is a rule that could cost me my life if I break it."

Everybody looked at him with their arms crossed. "Really, Harry? I don't even know you that well and I know just how dangerous that curiosity of yours is," said Hermione.

"Yeah? I'm not planning to do anything stupid anyway." Harry looked upset. "Plus, I can always ask Fred and George about the corridor," he mumbled. Neville, Corvus and Hermione were unable to hear what he said.

"What was that?" asked Corvus.

Harry waved Corvus's concern away. "Nothing. I'm going to go to bed. Thanks for checking my homework for me."

Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville was snoring loudly, but Harry couldn't sleep. He tried to empty his mind — he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours – but the expression on Snape's face when Harry had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget.

 **-Line Break-**

Corvus was sitting at one of the desks in the empty common room. Everybody else had gone to sleep. Corvus was tapping his fingers on the table rhythmically. _'Damn. He's gotten curious. How am I going to divert Harry's attention?'_ He began tapping his chin. _'His notorious penchant of doing anything to sate his curiosity will get him into trouble.'_ Corvus groaned.

 _'I need to figure out the best way to stop Quirrel from interfering with the Quidditch match.'_ He continued to tap his chin. _'I could potentially try to incapacitate Professor Quirrelmort but I'm unsure how long that would last.'_ Corvus sighed. _'It's my best bet to incapacitate him though. I'm not able to counter the jinx that's going to be used on Harry's broom.'_

 _'I also need to come up with methods to get past the tests that Professor Dumbledore has set up. If it all goes to hell, it would be best to just have things play out how they did in the books. The only problem with this plan is that I don't know anybody who is good enough in chess. I consider myself to be a pretty good chess player but I don't know if I'll be able to get past Professor McGonagall's chessboard. All the other tests are easy to pass so I don't need to worry about them.'_

Corvus picked up a mirror that was on the table. "I have an idea on how to go about stopping Quirrelmort from jinxing Harry's broom." He put the mirror back on the desk softly. _'Going to be so tired but it's time to train.'_

Corvus slipped out of the common room with another student's appearance and ran to the seventh floor.

He found the corridor he needed. _'I need a place to practice metamorphmagi transformations and spell incantations.'_ He walked past the corridor three times, thinking about what he needed.

He was relieved the door appeared. _'Nice!'_

Five hours later, Corvus was knocking on Professor Quirrel's office door. His insistent knocking became useful when Corvus saw the doorknob rattling. Corvus readied his wand.

The door opened.

Corvus harshly whispered, "Stupefy!" The person who opened the door fell unconscious. Corvus made sure not to say anything because he was unsure if he had made the Voldemort shade unconscious as well. He didn't bother getting closer to the Professor.

He had changed appearance so Quirrelmort wouldn't be able to tell who he was. "Petrificus Totalus." He began casting several spells. "Brachiabindo. Levicorpus. Silencio." Corvus wiped the sweat from his brow. "Well, that should be enough. So glad that those hours of practice helped out." He approached the immobilised Quirrelmort and searched for the wand. He eventually it in the pockets of the man's robes. "Throw this to the side so he can't get it. Close the door." He locked the door with a spell. "Colloportus. And we're done." Corvus glanced down at his watch. "I can have a two-hour power nap."

Corvus ran to the Gryffindor Tower. Tiptoed into his room, stripped his clothes, stashed them into his trunk. Wore his pyjamas and jumped into bed to sleep.

 **-Line Break-**

Two hours later Corvus woke up to a bright and cold morning. Harry had been shaking him awake.

"Come on, wake up, Cor! We're going to breakfast," Harry yelled.

Corvus groaned. "Hnnnn." was his response to Harry's attempts to awaken him.

"I will set your bed on fire if you don't wake up," said Hermione.

Corvus leapt from the bed and ran into the toilet. "Wait five minutes, I'll be done!"

Harry glanced at Hermione. "Set his bed on fire? Seriously?"

"What? It was the only method I could think of to wake him up."

Neville started to laugh.

Five minutes later the group entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

"You've got to eat some breakfast. "

"I don't want anything. "

"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not hungry. "

Harry felt terrible. In an hour's time, he'd be walking onto the field.

"Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team. "

"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

Corvus, Hermione and Neville joined Seamus, Ron and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said Potter for President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione and Corvus cast a tricky charm on the banner so that it would flash different colours.

Corvus was carrying Thor, he thought that today would be a great day for him to be out in the sun. He wasn't afraid of Thor running about during the Quidditch match because he would be holding onto him. Very tightly.

Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once the two Quidditch teams gathered around her.

"Mount your brooms, please.

Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.

Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too–"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor. "

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve — back to Johnson and — no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes — Flint flying like an eagle up there — he's going to sc — no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle — that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and — OUCH — that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger — Quaffle taken by the Slytherins — that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger — sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which — nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes — she's really flying — dodges a speeding Bludger — the goal posts are ahead — come on, now, Angelina — Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

"Budge up there, move along. "

"Hagrid!"

Neville, Corvus and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"No, I think it's too early. Match has been pretty quiet," Neville said. "Those two over there aren't even paying attention to the match." Neville gestured to Hermione and Corvus. "Harry looks bored," Neville noted.

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skyward at the speck that was Harry.

Hermione was actually paying attention to the match, she was pretending to read her book. Corvus, however, was closely watching the area where the teachers were sitting. He saw no sign of Quirrelmort.

Corvus sighed. 'I'm relieved that it worked. I was afraid that even with all the spells that have been cast on him he would be able to escape. So glad that wandless magic isn't as easy as how some fanfics make it out to be.'

WHAM!

Corvus's attention was drawn back to the Quidditch match when a roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors — Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose as they were vying for the Golden Snitch. Harry's broom spun off course, he was holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"

"What are you talking about, Dean?" said Ron.

"Red card!" said Dean furiously. "In soccer you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!"

"But this isn't soccer, Dean," Ron reminded him.

Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side.

"They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air. "

Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.

"So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating–"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul. . . "

"Jordan, I'm warning you–"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession. "

"Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, Professor — Slytherins score — A no. . . "

The Slytherins were cheering.

Thor licked Corvus's face when he saw how deep in thought his owner was.

"Hey, stop licking me, Thor. All right, all right. I'll pay attention to the match."

Thor had an extremely satisfied look on his face, his tongue lolling as he panted in excitement.

The moment Corvus had been waiting for never came. The jinx on Harry's broom never worked. Corvus was relieved Quirrelmort hadn't appeared at the very last second. Some of the spells he had cast on Quirrelmort were ones that he had only learnt during those five hours of practice in the Room of Requirement.

Corvus focused his gaze on Harry.

Harry was speeding toward the ground together with Marcus Flint. Flint was being overly aggressive, attempting to shove Harry to the side with his bigger build.

Suddenly, Harry's broom turned upside down.

Harry reached out to grab an invisible object flying in the air. Harry swung his broom so he could be upright. "I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended with Harry flying laps around the Quidditch match together with Wood hugging him.

Corvus didn't show his pride by shouting or yelling. He simply smiled as Thor barked fervently. He felt that Thor's barks were enough to show just how proud he was of Harry.

Flint was still howling twenty minutes later. Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the results — Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Harry heard none of this, though. He was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Corvus, Hermione and Harry

"Congratulations on your first match, Harry. How'd it feel to win on your very first match?" asked Corvus.

"Exhilarating," said Harry breathlessly. "I'm serious, Cor. You have to play Quidditch."

"I told you I'll try Quidditch out when I'm allowed a broom. That will only happen if I'm a Second-year student. Just wait for another year and maybe I'll play with you."

"But, Cor!" Harry whined. "How about you use my broom? We can do it during dinner whilst everybody is in the Great Hall."

Corvus ignored Harry.

"I was thinking about going to the forbidden corridor since somebody declined to use my broom. The three-headed dog that Fred and George told me about is making me very curious. Professor Snape's injury that he apparently incurred from the three-headed dog makes it all the more interesting."

"Fine!" Corvus shouted, making Hermione and Neville jump from their seats slightly by the sudden volume increase. "I will play on your broom whenever I'm free. Is that okay with you?"

Harry grinned, glad to finally have Corvus doing what he wanted. "Perfect."

A teapot smashed, the pieces scattered across the ground.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" asked Hagrid.

"Fluffy?" Neville looked confused.

"Yeah — he's mine — bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year — I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the–"

"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me any more," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is." Hagrid bent down to gather the shattered pieces. "You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel–"

"Aha!" said Harry, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself.

"Harry, promise me you won't look into this. I would really regret having to punish you," Corvus said, a sadistic smile appeared on his face.

Harry turned pale. "Of course I won't." He shook his head vigorously.

They left Hagrid's hut twenty minutes later. Hagrid was still upset with revealing information that shouldn't have been revealed.

"What a wonderful day." Harry looked at the sky, happy with all that had transpired today.

Neville and Hermione began speaking with Harry.

Corvus, still carrying Thor in his arms, was thinking.

 _'Hagrid managed to ignite his curiosity again. I'm not sure how long I can hold Harry's curiosity off.'_ He glanced at the sleeping Thor in his arms. _'What am I going to do about the chessboard?' he wondered._

The four walked back to the castle for lunch.


	19. Harry is Sly

"Follow me, Cor!"

"Hnn."

"You promised me, Cor! Come on, stop dragging your feet."

"When exactly did I promise you anything?"

Harry stopped dragging Corvus. "Are you serious? It was only a week ago. You promised to me in Hagrid's hut, remember?"

"Nope. I don't have any recollection of promising anything to you." Corvus started walking back to their room. "As a matter of fact, I remember that you were the one who gave me a promise."

Harry stuck his tongue out.

"Childish."

"You're just as old as I am, Cor!"

"Go bother Neville or Hermione. I'm going to sleep!"

"Both of them are already on their way to the Great Hall for dinner, as are all the other students and professors. This is the best time for us to practise on the broom! Nobody's going to be out at the stadium for at least an hour or so."

"Can't we do this next time?"

"You've said that for the past week, Cor!"

"Whatever." Corvus waved his hand flippantly, not too bothered to care about what Harry was trying to do. He dragged his feet across the floor-his socks preventing him from getting a friction burn-as he walked back towards the room.

"Cor, come with me willingly or I'll use force."

"Both of us know that you would never do anything to harm a fly."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely."

"Petrificus Totalus."

Corvus's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't practise some of the spells that were in your sister's notebook? We practised this spell together." Harry grinned as Corvus stared at him in horror. "Now I'm going to carry your body all the way to the stadium. Oh, and if you're worried about me not being strong enough..." Harry smirked. "I'm simply going to use a spell that everybody has learnt to use." Harry brandished his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa."

Corvus began floating.

If Corvus was able to speak then he would've heard Corvus yelling at him.

The theory behind the Levitation charm gave Harry a method of transportation. "Such a simple spell but if used correctly, then the possibilities are limitless." Harry grabbed his broom and he made his way to the Quidditch pitch.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the pitch.

Arms outstretched, Harry said, "Here we are. Your very first time playing Quidditch." Harry took his wand out again and pointed it at Corvus. "Finite Incantatem."

Corvus was released from the full-body binding curse. "Harry! When I get my hands on you, you'll wish that you never met me!" yelled Corvus, glaring at the grinning Harry.

"Try not to make too much noise, Cor. Don't want to attract any unwanted attention now do we?"

Corvus cracked his knuckles. "I really do not care about how much noise I make."

Harry held his broom out to Corvus sheepishly. "I come bearing gifts?"

Corvus continued to glare at Harry.

Eventually, Harry's sad expression had him sighing. There was no point in arguing with Harry any further. He was already at the pitch. "Oh, why the hell not?" Corvus threw his hands up, completely exasperated with the method Harry had chosen to subdue him with. "How are am I even going to go about learning how to play Quidditch?"

Seeing that his friend had finally accepted the situation he found himself in, Harry took a box out of pockets. "I might have ordered something a little special." He opened the box and showed it to Corvus.

"..." An awkward silence ensued between the two for one whole minute. "How much did you spend on this?"

"Uh..." Harry could only smile wryly. "A bit?"

Corvus sighed before looking at the object Harry had splurged his money on. "How'd you even manage to find a person that would sell a golden snitch to you?"

"I may or may not have sent a letter to a goblin that may or may not have found somebody for me."

"..." Corvus shook his head. "If we are practising with the Snitch then you have to remember how easy it is to lose. Don't blame me if I'm not able to find it because I don't think I'll even be able to see the thing flying."

"Oh don't worry about that, I can catch the Snitch for you if you aren't able to find it."

"I hope you can."

"Just trust me."

"Sometimes your plans go awry, Harry. And when I say sometimes, I mean all the time."

"Rude."

"Childish."

"Control freak."

"Br-excuse me?" Corvus was in disbelief. "I am not a control freak."

"Yes, you are."

"Am not."

"Are too."

Their bickering went on for a few minutes before they stopped. They needed to take a breather.

Harry released the Snitch from the buckles that held it inside of the box. "Go get it."

Corvus rolled his eyes. "Fine, but you have to admit its pretty dark right now."

"The lights are on, don't worry about it. I've also told you that I'll retrieve the Snitch if you can't find it."

"Yeah, well. Good luck to me. We didn't cover much during the flying lessons with Madam Hooch."

"Those lessons aren't something you need. I've seen you fly, Cor. Don't deny your own talent."

"Talent? Harry, I barely know how to control a broom. How do you expect me to do something that others have trained to do?"

"I've done it."

"I'm not you, Harry."

"Just get the Snitch." Harry pushed Corvus, handing him some gloves.

Corvus put the gloves on and climbed onto the broom. 'Here goes nothing.' Corvus gulped as he pushed off the ground and up into the air. Corvus began flying laps around the pitch to get used to the speed the broom could achieve. He already knew how to work brooms. The left and right pedals were to provide stability. All he had to do was lean left to go left and lean right to go right. Leaning forward would increase the speed of the broom. Steering the broom could also change the direction it went. It was all very technical that not even Corvus would be able to describe to a person easily. It was something you had to feel for yourself.

After a few laps around the pitch, Corvus began searching for the Snitch. It wasn't exactly easy considering how the lights would glare into his eyes if he looked at them directly.

He began floating around high up above the seats in the pitch, employing the same tactic Harry used during his match. His aerial view of the entire pitch allowed him to observe the entire stadium. The cold wind hit his face. Corvus had so many questions concerning broomsticks. One of those questions being: 'How on earth am I able to see while flying at such high speeds?' Corvus had to chalk up the whole thing to magic since there was no explanation he could think about.

After ten minutes of scanning the pitch, Corvus eventually spotted the glint of the Snitch. He caught the Snitch easily, which was unexpected considering how much effort Harry usually had to put into his matches.

Corvus flew towards Harry on the ground.

Harry was clapping. "Nice. I knew you were definitely good."

"I'm just lucky, Harry. Plus I wouldn't have been able to spot the Snitch if it wasn't for the glint coming off the Snitch. I mean like yeah, I can spot the small tiny movements of the Snitch but that doesn't occur very often."

"Pfft, I'm sure you'll get better. You don't have to be a Seeker, I already have that position."

"Harry, I do not want to play Quidditch."

"What?" Harry began to whine. "Please."

"Too much work." Corvus wiped the sweat off his face with his robes. Even though it was cold, the exertion still had him sweating. "Put the Snitch back into the box. By the way, how are we going to use the Snitch again? I already touched it so I don't think it will work much longer."

Harry shook his head. "That's why I had you wear gloves. As long as you don't touch the Snitch with your actual flesh, then the Flesh Memory of the Snitch won't trigger. We can continue to use it over and over again as long as we have gloves on when we catch it."

"Huh." Corvus had to admit that Harry had done his research. "Never knew that."

Harry shrugged. "I didn't know about it either but the person who sold it to me gave me information about how to reuse the Snitch over and over again."

They began heading back to the castle. "Are we going to the kitchen and get dinner?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, pretty hungry. Didn't think flying would take so much out of me."

"Flying is pretty exhausting but you have to admit that it's exhilarating."

Corvus hummed. "The freedom is amazing. The wind blowing on my face is comforting. But the best thing about flying is probably the thrill."

Harry nodded. "Definitely. The freedom and thrill that comes with flying are the reasons why I'm continuing to play Quidditch. I don't care about the glory or fame that comes with being a good seeker."

"That's what I love about you. So honest." Corvus had taken off the gloves Harry had given him and was rubbing Harry's hair.

"Hey! Stop rubbing my hair!" Harry protested. "You're making it messy."

Harry was shot a bemused look. "Harry, your hair will always be messy. No matter what you do to that bed of hair of yours, it will never settle down."

Harry pouted. "You don't have to make it any messier than it already is."

They waltzed into the kitchen through its hidden entrance. The house-elves clamoured around them. "Is Sirs here for food?" One house-elf asked

"Yes, we'd like to eat dinner here. Is that okay with you, Moppy?"

The house-elf which spoke nodded. "Yes, yes. Moppy always has spare food for Sirs." She clicked her fingers and two plates of food floated over to them.

"Thank you, Moppy," Harry and Corvus said together.

The house-elves had to go back to work once Harry and Corvus began eating the dinner Moppy had provided for them. They were busy cleaning everything that was coming from the Great Hall.

-Line Break-

"Now you have truly experienced flying. What do you think about playing Quidditch with me?" Harry threw a ball up into the air to practice his hand-eye coordination.

Corvus lay on Harry's bed. "I don't know. I will have to think about it. I have to get my own broom before I can even think about playing Quidditch. You also have to remember that only second-year students are allowed to play."

Harry was about to say something.

"No, shut up, Harry. You're an exception." Harry's mouth closed. "Stop throwing that ball."

"I need to practice."

"You can do that later. I need your help to see if my transformations are on point." Corvus rose from Harry's bed and began shedding his clothes until he was left with his underwear.

"Ugh, I don't want to see your private parts!" Harry put his hands in front of his eyes, blocking Corvus from his sight.

"Harry, my underwear is covering my private bits. And please, you're a guy as well. Why are you even worried about modesty?"

"Because I'm an innocent person that doesn't want to see his own friend's private parts."

Corvus shrugged. "Whatever, you won't be able to see them either way."

Harry moved his hands away from his face. "Oh."

Corvus rolled his eyes. "I've been practising how to change my height and I think I've gotten the hang of it."

"Didn't you tell me that you were going to cover that part of your metamorphmagus abilities with your sister during summer break?" asked Harry.

"Uhh.." Corvus had no answer to that. "I couldn't wait. I wanted to begin impersonating teachers and older students as soon as possible."

Harry rolled around his bed, before smothering his face with blankets. Harry began speaking into his blanket but his words were muffled.

"I don't understand what you're saying."

Harry lifted his head. "I know you understand the dangers that come with experimenting with your abilities. I'm sure your sister was the one who told you about the dangers as well."

Corvus groaned. "Please don't lecture me. You're sounding like my mother."

Harry grinned. "Somebody has to control you at Hogwarts. It might as well be me since I know you best."

"Whatever."

"So, are you not afraid about the dangers?"

"If there are any complications during my experiments then I will trust you to bring me to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey can heal the injuries. She's had experience with my sister," Corvus said.

"You place so much trust in me, I'm honoured."

"Shut up, even if I didn't ask you to bring me to the Hospital Wing, I know you would do it of your own accord. You can't bear to let someone stay in pain."

Harry tilted his head to think about what Corvus said. "That's actually true."

"Harry, I'm pretty sure I know you better than you know yourself."

"And I can say the same for you."

Corvus stopped speaking for a moment. He couldn't tell Harry that there were many secrets that he was hiding from him.

"Okay, whatever. Can you look at me and see whether this transformation looks good?" Corvus changed the topic.

Harry pushed himself upright. "Go ahead."

Corvus's appearance began changing into one that Harry knew relatively well. "Seriously? You had to use his appearance?" Harry spotted the hooked nose.

"What can I say, his appearance is the best to take on. I'd scare all those students." His voice began turning silkier and silkier until it was identical with Professor Snape's.

"If he ever catches you then I'm not going to save you."

"Never expected you to save me from his clutches," said Corvus.

"It's so unusual to not hear my voice coming from you. I have gotten so used to you using my appearance and voice that it feels weird when you change into other people."

"You will get used to the constant voice changes eventually." Corvus started to get into character. "Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" barked Corvus.

"Draught of Living Death!" answered Harry instinctively. "Hey! Seriously? Damn, I'm always amazed by your metamorphmagus abilities."

Corvus laughed coldly. "Potter, your amazement surprises me."

"Please stop, Cor." Harry was shivering by how accurate Corvus was imitating Professor Snape's speech patterns.

"Potter, why should I listen to your insolent wishes? Five points from Gryffindor for snivelling like a brat!"

"Enough!" Harry wanted to strangle Corvus. He did not want to have nightmares about Snape lurking around in his room.

"Okay! Okay! I've had enough fun." Corvus took Harry's appearance once again. "Jeez, didn't need to overreact."

"Easy for you to say," Harry grumbled. "You aren't the one who is being subjected to the torture that is facing Professor Snape. Even if he no longer hates me to the core, it still isn't fun when you can imitate his speech patterns so well. You're too convincing."

Corvus raked his fingers through his hair. "I'm sure you can do the same with the help of a potion."

"Polyjuice potion?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I read about it...?"

"That's unlikely. Polyjuice potion is a rather advanced potion and it's taught to N.E.W.T students."

"Then how do you know about it? I thought I was the Potions expert in our group."

Corvus scratched his head. He was unsure on how to explain his knowledge. "My sister mentioned it was the only other way to truly imitate a person's appearance with a hundred percent accuracy."

"Hmm. Polyjuice potion is too troublesome to make. That's why I'm so amazed by your abilities."

"I'm amazed by them too. I haven't explored the limits of being a metamorphmagus, even my sister hasn't completely explored what our abilities are capable of. There are certain things we aren't able to do with our abilities. We aren't able to change our internal organs. Well, that's what Dora said. She told me that she never dared to mess with her organs because she was unsure if they would be able to fix those types of injuries. Because she never dared to mess with her organs, Dora made that her hard limit. Personally, I wouldn't mess with my own organs because as Dora said, it's too dangerous."

Harry raised an eyebrow at Corvus. He had underestimated his ability to speak without breathing. "I think you just broke Hermione's record."

"Record? What record?"

"Nothing, I'm sure you can figure it out after you think about it for a while."

"Nah, too lazy."

"Let's just go to sleep. I'm tired."

"You're tired? I'm pretty sure I was the one who was flying around and sweating?"

"Shut up."

"See you tomorrow."

"Good night, Cor."

Corvus turned off the lights in the room, not really caring about whether his other roommates would be able to see when they came into the room.


	20. First Christmas at Hogwarts

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all was Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

Hermione's charmed fires in glass jars were working wonders in keeping the four warm whenever they walked around colder places. She had miniaturised the glass jars by using a shrinking charm, the charm took her less than a week to learn. Each person carried a jar around with them in their robe's pockets. They had to be very careful with the jars because they were fragile. Hermione was still learning to cast an unbreakable charm but it was proving to be difficult for both her and Corvus, who had been helping her out.

They were currently down in the dungeons for Potions. Draco Malfoy was being annoying towards the Gryffindors as usual.

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home. "

He was looking over at Harry and Corvus as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled.

Harry, who was measuring out the powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. Corvus simply stuck his middle finger up at Malfoy when Professor Snape's back was facing them.

Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.

Malfoy's unpleasantness extended to Corvus as well because of the grudge Corvus's mother had against his own mother. Draco had learnt of the specifics of what caused their families to be so hostile to each other and was happy that he had a reason to pester Corvus.

How Draco managed to find out that Harry and Corvus were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, they didn't know. But Professor McGonagall had come to the common room the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays. Corvus's parents were going out on vacation and his sister, Dora would be too busy with her assignments to come back. At that moment, they both decided to stay at Hogwarts because the only thing that would be waiting for them would be Tom at the Leaky Cauldron. They preferred to use their holidays to rest than work for hours on end.

Neville invited the two to his home but both declined. Their reasons being: "We don't want to meet your grandmother just yet because she might be angry with us for helping you get a new wand."

It wasn't a good reason but Neville understood their reasoning. His gran would likely attempt to harm them if they did visit.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Are you okay? Do you need any help carrying that, Hagrid?" asked Harry, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Draco's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Potter? Did your parents leave you nothing when they died? I suppose you want to be a gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts-that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what you're used to."

Harry was pulled back by Neville and Corvus just as Snape came up the stairs.

"What is going on here?" Snape's silky voice penetrated through the silence.

"Malfoy was attempting to provoke Harry into attacking him, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Potter, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you," he ordered.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle smirked as they pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere.

"Your first imitation of Professor Snape was really accurate. Can't believe you nailed his mannerisms perfectly," whispered Harry.

"Took a lot of studying," Corvus whispered back.

"Yeah, I bet it did. It took you what? An entire month of being close to me before you could pass as me?"

"Well, you were the first person I attempted to imitate. After the first time, it becomes easier. I know what to look for. I'm pretty sure Dora would be able to imitate a person after knowing them for less than an hour."

"... That's why I'm scared of your sister. She's going to pass her Auror programme, I know it."

They both shuddered.

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

The three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall-Hermione had split up with the group to go to the library-where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick busied themselves with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree — put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," said Neville. "That reminds me — Harry, Corvus, we've got half an hour before it's lunch. We should quickly eat and get something for Hermione as well before we head to the library. I'm certain she'll come and drag us there if we don't come."

"Oh, you're right," said Harry, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, Hermione wanted us to finish all the homework we've been set by the professors," Harry told him. "And ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel Hermione has been trying to find out who he is. She's dragged us in to help her."

"You what?" "What!" Hagrid and Corvus shouted simultaneously, both shocked by what Harry said.

"Listen here — I've told yeh — drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guarding'," said Hagrid sternly.

"Hagrid is right. Whatever the dog is guarding, it's none of our business." Harry cowered underneath Corvus's glare. "When were you planning on telling me you guys were researching Nicolas Flamel?" Corvus questioned.

"Harry told us to keep it quiet. He was the one who asked Hermione to look into Nicolas Flamel," Neville said, selling Harry out to Corvus.

"Hey! That was supposed to be kept a secret from Cor!" yelled Harry.

"It's not worth risking Corvus's ire," Neville said, not at all feeling guilty about selling his friend out.

Harry shrugged. "True, but that's not the point! You know how Corvus gets when he doesn't want me poking my head into other people's business."

"You know I feel like both of you have forgotten that Hagrid and I are standing right here?" Corvus waved when they both looked at him, surprised by him suddenly speaking.

They both blushed when they realised Hagrid had been listening in on their conversation. "Sorry." Both boys apologised.

"Well, I oughta go now, got other things ter do." Hagrid began making his way out of the hall.

"Bye Hagrid!" All three boys shouted.

"Don't think this is over, Harry. We're going to have a nice long talk once we're alone." Corvus promised Harry that he would not be getting away from his punishment.

The three boys grabbed two plates from the Great hall, took some food and brought it to the library. They hid the plates from Madam Pince's sight because she would've confiscated the food if she saw it. No food was allowed in the library.

Hermione had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else was Harry going to find out what Professor Snape was trying to steal? Even with Hermione's astronomically swift reading speed, it was very hard for her to find any information about the man. She didn't know where to begin because she had no idea what Nicolas Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. She had checked 'Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century', 'Notable Magical Names of Our Time', 'Important Modern Magical Discoveries,' and 'A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry'. Still, she was unable to find anything about the man. The sheer size of the library didn't exactly help her in her search for information. There were tens of thousands of books and thousands of shelves.

When the boys arrived at the library, Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to go through and handed them over to them.

"Each of you needs to choose a number of items from this list and search from there. Tell me if you find anything. Remember to cross off the subjects and titles once you finished reading through them," Hermione ordered.

Harry had been planning to enter the Restricted Section but found out that you needed a specially signed note from one of the professors to look at any of the restricted books. Harry doubted any of them would be able to get a note.

After three hours of perusal, the four of them left the library. Everybody, including Corvus, had agreed they would not ask Madam Pince on where they could information on Nicolas Flamel. Corvus was still reluctant to help with the investigation, but under the threat of several curses from Hermione, he continued to help them in their search.

Hermione, Neville and Harry had been looking for two weeks before Corvus had found out, but because they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they had found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.

They all had their hands in their pockets around the miniaturised glass jars. "You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione. "Send me an owl if you find anything."

"Of course," both Harry and Neville chorused.

"Absolutely not," said Corvus. "I'm not going to waste my Christmas searching for information on a person that we aren't supposed to know about."

Hermione sighed. "Even my threats won't work, will they?"

"Nope." Corvus shook his head. "I'll help the three of you on your search if nobody has found any information by the time Christmas break is over."

"Fine." Hermione agreed.

"Shake my hand to seal the deal." He held his hand out.

Hermione shook his hand.

"Very good," Corvus said.

"You could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Harry. "It should be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, they're both dentists," Hermione confirmed.

They headed for the common room.

"I still think that's it's wrong to be searching for information on a subject that Hagrid has already told us to drop."

"Shut up, Cor," Hermione, Neville and Harry said.

 **-Line Break-**

The holidays had started, it was Christmas Eve. Harry was having too good a time to think about searching for Flamel. No matter how curious he was, he was constantly distracted by others.

They were only three boys left in their dormitory; Harry, Ron and Corvus. The common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. They sat and talked whilst eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork — bread, English muffins and marshmallows. Though Harry and Corvus rarely spoke to Ron, they found that he wasn't as unlikeable a person than they had first assumed him to be—well that was when he wasn't voicing what he thought about others.

Ron was teaching Harry and Corvus wizard chess. Corvus fancied himself a good chess player but when he was faced with Ron, he knew that the boy was one hell of a strategist. Something which was rare for a boy his age. Ron's chess set was very old and battered.

Harry went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun. He expected a few presents from Corvus because he had a feeling that his friend would attempt to spoil him.

When he woke early in the morning, he saw a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed. Harry looked around to see the same for Corvus and Ron.

"Merry Christmas," said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe.

"You too," said Harry. "Will you look at this? I've gotten more presents than I expected!"

"What did you expect, turnips?" asked Ron, turning to his own pile which was a lot bigger than Harry's.

Harry glanced at Corvus's bed-he was still snoring away as he slept-before picking up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was 'To Harry, from Hagrid.'

Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it — it sounded a bit like an owl.

A second, very small parcel contained a note. 'We received your message and sent your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. P.S Do not come back to our house.' Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.

"That's friendly," said Harry.

Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence. "Is this money?"

"You can keep it," said Harry, laughing at how Ron was examining the coin.

"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron suddenly, turning a bit pink. He pointed to a very lumpy parcel. "My mother must have sent it to you. Look, I think Corvus was sent one too." He pointed to another lumpy parcel that was at the foot of Corvus's bed. "I think Fred and George must have talked about the both of you. I don't see the two of you interacting with Percy. I haven't told mum about either of you. Oh, she's made you a Weasley sweater."

Harry tore open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge.

"Bet she's made one for Corvus too. She makes us a sweater every year," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."

"That's really nice of her," said Harry, trying the fudge, which was very tasty. His next present also contained candy — a large box of Chocolate Frogs and a notebook from Hermione. "Hermione, how fast do you expect me to fill out my notebooks." He looked at the notebook despairingly.

Harry went for the next parcel, a note was on the top. 'For Harry, your best friend, Corvus. My very first Christmas present to you. Hope it becomes one of your best memories to think back on in the future.' Harry unwrapped the parcel to find several items. A broomstick servicing kit, a textbook on obscure potions, an album which contained all the photos Corvus's parents had taken of them, and last of all, a box which contained a necklace.

' _How much did this all cost?'_ Harry wondered. Corvus must have spent a fortune to buy so much for him. He knew that Corvus didn't have the sort of money to buy everything. Harry peeked over the parcel at Corvus's bed to still see him sleeping. _'Thanks, Cor.'_

He examined the necklace carefully. Hanging from the thread were two animal teeth and a silver lightning bolt. The lightning bolt was in between the two shark teeth.

Harry quickly wore the necklace, his body vibrated slightly. He clutched the necklace in his right hand. _'I won't lose this, Cor.'_

The sound of parcel wrapping being torn reminded Harry about his remaining presents. There were three parcels left.

The next present he picked up was from Neville. The wrapping was torn away to reveal a massive book. "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi," Harry read out. "Wow, I'm receiving a lot of books..." Harry was speechless. How much of a bibliophile did they think he was? Corvus and Hermione were the bibliophiles, not him.

Harry's penultimate present was an unexpected surprise — it was sent by Dora. A note could be found on top of the parcel. 'Here's a book on Concealment and Disguises. It was given to me for a course in my Auror Programme, but because my metamorphmagus abilities allow me to pass the course with full marks, I can give you this book for your own usage. Use it well, my little brother. Dora out!'

Harry smiled at Dora's note. He was surprised Dora considered him as a brother. Harry put the book next to all the other books he had received today. The final present awaited him.

Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it. Something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped.

"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans he'd gotten from Dean. "If that's what I think it is — they're really rare and really valuable."

"What is it?" asked Harry. Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.

"An invisibility cloak." A voice came from behind the two.

Harry turned to see Corvus.

"I do hope you aren't planning to use the cloak for anything I would disapprove of," said Corvus.

"Of course, I wouldn't." Harry chuckled nervously.

"Try the cloak on," Ron said.

Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell. "Look it works! Look down!"

Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.

"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:

'Your father left this in my possession before he died.

It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well.

A very Merry Christmas to you.'

There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the cloak.

"I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," said Harry. He felt very strange. 'Who sent the cloak? Had it really belonged to my father?' Harry was confused as to who would know his father so well that they would ask them to hold onto an item for him.

Before he could say or think anything else, the dormitory door was flung open. Fred and George bounded in. Harry stuffed the cloak out of sight quickly. He didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look — Harry's got a Weasley sweater, too!" Fred said

"It looks like Corvus received one as well!" George pointed to the sweater Corvus was wearing. A large yellow C was sewn into the blue sweater. "He's got a blue one just like we do!"

Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G.

All three boys had devious smirks on their faces. "I think-"

"we know what to do today."

Corvus took on Fred and George's appearance. "How do I look?" asked Corvus.

"Absolutely-"

"Splendid, my dear brother." The twins ran up to link their arms with Corvus.

"What's all this noise?" An older boy asked. It was Percy Weasley. He had stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.

"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry and Corvus got one."

"I — don't — want —" said Percy thickly, as the twins and Corvus began forcing the sweater over his head, knocking his glass askew.

"You're not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."

"Wait, why are there three of you?" asked Percy, utterly confused as to how it was possible there were three identical people standing in the room.

"Why, Percy, have you forgotten that Fred, George and I are identical triplets?" asked Corvus.

"Percy! I can't believe you would forget our brother!" exclaimed Fred.

George nodded. "You've been neglecting your duty as an older brother."

"Oh be quiet! Whoever that is who is using Polyjuice potion, state your true name," Percy ordered furiously.

"My dear brother, have you already forgotten me? Corvus?" Corvus put his hand on his heart in mock shock.

Percy grit his teeth. "I was hoping I would never see you again."

Fred and George frog-marched Percy from the room when they realised the potential outburst. Ron followed his brothers.

Corvus promptly transformed into Harry. "What'd you get, Harry?"

"Mostly books. I don't understand why all of you would send so many books to me."

Corvus laughed. "We all know you love books. You just aren't as vocal about your love, unlike me or Hermione."

Harry sighed. "I received presents from Hagrid, my relatives — which by the way was very surprising — Neville, Hermione — Dora, another surprise there — and from you. By the way, how'd you manage to save up so much money to buy all of this?"

"I may or may not have asked my parents to pitch in some money to help me buy some of the presents? Just think of it as a joint Christmas present. The necklace was bought with my own money though," said Corvus.

Harry fingered the lightning bolt on the necklace. "Thanks, Cor."

"Now, the necklace is the most expensive item, so take very good care of it. There are two enchantments on the necklace. Those enchantments are Anti-Theft charms, the first charm prevents it from being summoned by others and the second charm prevents it from being removed unless you are the owner. When you first wore the necklace there should've been a sensation that passed through your body. That was the necklace registering you as its owner."

Harry nodded, he had felt a sensation pass through his body when he wore the necklace.

"What do you think about my present?"

"What do I think? What do I think about your present? It's absolutely amazing!" Harry hugged Corvus tightly.

Corvus smiled. "I'm glad you like it, Harry."

"What did you receive for Christmas, Cor?" asked Harry.

"Haven't unwrapped any other presents besides Mrs Weasley's present."

"Ooh! Go and unwrap them, I want to see what you got."

Corvus chuckled. "All right." Corvus took the first parcel from the pile. "Merry Christmas, Mum and Dad." Corvus read out the letter he found on the first parcel. "Huh," said Corvus when he saw what his parents had gifted him.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes, yes it is."

They both stared at the present.

"Can't believe they sent you so many notebooks"

"I can't believe it either."

Corvus put the notebooks on his drawer. "Those will last me for a while."

He began unwrapping his second present. "Dora sent this present. Read the letter." Corvus handed the letter over.

"My precious little metamorphmagus, I do hope you are practising with your abilities. I've gifted you a whole bunch of items that will help you take care of your little Thor. Try to spoil the little doggy a little more, he's too adorable to be neglected. Dora out!" Harry gave the letter back to Corvus. "I feel like she's signed her letters the same way for everybody."

"Well, Dora is Dora. She does what she wants. I'm actually happy with this gift. I've been thinking of what I can do for Thor, haven't been doing much for him recently," said Corvus as he replaced Thor's collar with the one Dora had given him. Thor didn't stir from his sleep.

He took the next present. "Hey look, Neville's sent me a book on Poisonous Plants that can be found in the Muggle and Magical worlds."

"That's interesting."

"Yeah, I can choose from a wide selection of plants to poison people now."

"Please don't."

"Yes, mother." Corvus rolled his eyes.

Hermione's present to Corvus was a box of Chocolate frogs along with a letter that said:

'Didn't have much time to think of a Christmas present for you and Harry. Next year will be much better. Hermione Granger, smartest witch of the year.'

Harry hadn't given Corvus anything but he didn't mind.

"... Fred and George sent me a prank kit."

"They're already grooming you to be a prankster," said Harry.

"And you're going to be one with me," promised Corvus.

The last present was from Hagrid. "That's nice of Hagrid, he's gifted me my own personal moleskin overcoat. It looks just like his."

Corvus didn't try it on because he could hear people calling his and Harry's name from the common room. "Somebody's calling us, let's go down."

They left the dormitory to join the fun that was happening in the common room.

 **-Line Break-**

The Christmas dinner was one that Corvus had trouble describing. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce - and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table.

Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred. It exploded in his hand. It went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke. Several live, white mice came scurrying out of the cracker. Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle hidden inside his slice. Hagrid got redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine. He finally kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to everybody's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.

When Harry and Corvus finally left the table, they were laden down with a stack of things that had come out of the crackers. These items included a pack of non-explodable luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and two new wizard chess sets. Luckily the white mice had disappeared because Corvus had been feeling queasy with the mice scurrying about. Harry joked that the white mice were going to end up as Mrs Norris's dinner.

They spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds with the Weasleys, and that included Percy. Once they were sufficiently cold, wet and gasping for breath, everybody returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by playing against Ron - he lost spectacularly.

Corvus was fooling around with Fred and George by taking on their appearance once again. The identical grins on their faces had the others shuddering in fear of what they would do. Fred and George were enough trouble already. Adding Corvus on top of that? That was a recipe for disaster.

After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred, George and Corvus all over the Gryffindor tower because they had stolen his prefect badge. His chase proved to be of no use, the three boys were considerably faster than the prefect.

For Harry, it had been his best Christmas ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of his mind all day. There were too many distractions to think about what was bugging him until he climbed into bed and was free to think about it. He was still wondering who had sent the invisibility cloak to him. Harry decided to discuss it with Corvus.

Ron, full of turkey and cake and with nothing mysterious to bother him, fell asleep almost as soon as he had drawn the curtains of his four-poster.

Harry leaned over the side of his own bed and pulled the cloak out from under it. He let the material flow over his hands, smoother than silk, light as air. Use it well, the note had said. He then draped it over his body and made his way toward Corvus, who was in the toilet brushing his teeth.

He crept behind Corvus.

Corvus felt a breath on his back. "Who's there?"

Harry stopped breathing.

"Harry?" Corvus called out. "I hope you aren't using that invisibility cloak of yours." Corvus turned around, his arm hitting Harry's side.

"Oof." A grunt of pain escaped Harry.

"Okay, I know you're there. Come out, Harry."

Harry took off the cloak. "Sorry." Harry sheepishly scratched his neck.

"What are you doing in here? I thought you went to sleep."

"I couldn't fall asleep..." Harry fiddled with his father's cloak.

"Aw..." Corvus hugged Harry. "Why's that?"

"I really, really want to use the cloak."

"No.," said Corvus.

"Please," Harry pleaded. "Just this once."

"Harry, you know your 'Just this once' will turn into multiple times."

"It's my cloak anyway... please."

Corvus faltered underneath Harry's emerald eyes. "Fine, but I'm coming with you. I don't want you doing anything that will get you into trouble."

Harry pumped his fist. "Thanks, Cor."

Corvus washed his mouth before leaving the toilet together with Harry. Ron grunted as they crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room, and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Who's there?" squaked the Fat Lady. They said nothing. They quickly walked down the corridor.

"Where should we go?" whispered Harry.

"This was your plan, you decide where to go," Corvus whispered back.

"Can we go to the Restricted Section in the library?"

"Absolutely not. There are probably precautions that will prevent intruders. I'd rather not get caught by the professors who are patrolling the castle.

"Then we'll just walk around until we find something interesting."

They began walking around the castle. Harry could feel something drawing his attention. He had no idea what it was, but something or someone seemed to be calling out to him. He dragged Corvus along until they stood in front of a door that was ajar. They squeezed through the door.

It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket — but propped against the wall facing them was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whosi. Harry ducked underneath the cloak and moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at his reflection again. He stepped in front of it.

Harry had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself from screaming. He whirled around. His heart pounding furiously — for he had seen not only himself in the mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right behind him.

But the room was empty, Corvus still hidden by the cloak. Breathing very fast, Harry turned slowly back to the mirror.

There he was, reflected in it, white and scared-looking, and reflected behind him were at least ten others. Harry looked over his shoulder to see Corvus removing the cloak from his person.

Harry looked in the mirror again. A woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling and waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. There was nothing. She and the others existed only in the mirror.

"Harry." Corvus's hand was on Harry's shoulder, shaking him vigorously. "What you see is not real."

Harry turned towards Corvus. "What do you mean?"

"The mirror shows you what your heart desires."

"And how do you know that?" asked Harry, he glanced at the mirror. The woman standing behind him was very pretty. She had dark red hair and her eyes were the same as his. Bright green — exactly the same shape. She was crying and smiling at the same time. A tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just as Harry's did.

"Read the inscription that's carved on the top of the mirror."

"It's gibberish."

"Read it backwards."

"I show... not your face but your heart's desire?"

"Yes. What the mirror shows you is what you truly desire. But it isn't real."

Harry glanced at the mirror again. "So the person in the mirror isn't my mother? Or my father?"

"If they are what you see, then no they aren't real."

Harry looked at all the faces of the other people in the mirror and saw other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses like his. Harry was looking at his family, for the first time in his life. But there were two people he had not expected to see in the mirror.

He saw Corvus hugging him. He also saw Dora standing right beside his parents, with her bubble-gum pink hair.

"What do you see, Cor? What is your heart's desire?" asked Harry. "My heart desires for a family, but what do you want?"

Harry moved aside to allow Corvus to be in front of the mirror. Corvus sighed as he glanced at the mirror.

Harry saw Corvus reach out but quickly pulled his hand back. "I see my family too, Harry. But the family I see in the mirror is just a dream."

Corvus picked up the invisibility cloak and draped it over the both of them. "Let's go," said Corvus, no longer wanting to look at the mirror any more. "Don't come back to this classroom, Harry. There's no point in wasting time dreaming about things that may not come true."

' _What does he mean by that? Why does he say that the family he sees is just a dream?'_ Harry wondered as they walked back to their dormitory. He was confused by Corvus's behaviour. He was confused by what he said. But Harry would follow Corvus's orders. There was no reason not to follow them.

They eventually made it back to the dormitory. Corvus fell asleep quickly. Harry lay on his bed, thinking about all the faces he had seen. He finally fell asleep after ten minutes.


End file.
